RWBY MIA
by pokeman1280
Summary: After failing to dispose of a bomb under Mountain Glen, team RWBY is separated. The problem is their scrolls are practically useless, there is no Dust anywhere, and none of the maps show anywhere they're familiar with.
1. Arrival

**Hello everyone, and welcome to my second story on . This is really just to test the waters to see if there's interest. At this point, I highly doubt that this will be uploaded weekly. This will be more of a side project to my main one, Rubys and Scales. To those of you coming over from that, I hope this one is a lot less heart ripping, though this first chapter man not seem like it.**

 _Italics = thoughts_

* * *

"Weiss, do you have the Dust?" Ruby shouted as she sliced through what felt like the thousandth Creep that day.

"Just a second…got it!" Weiss grabbed the Dust fuel from the wall and stuffed it in one of her pockets. She drew Myrtenaster and quickly stabbed a Beowolf that got too close. "How many do you think are between us and the bomb?"

"Way too many." Ruby fired several shots from Crescent Rose and cleared a temporary path through the horde. "Let's go!" The day had gone south incredibly fast. What started out as a simple mission to figure out why several control centers around the Emerald Forest weren't responding turned into a fight for survival under Mountain Glen. Whoever these Merlot Industries people were, they did not want people snooping around their territory.

They set up a bomb underneath Mountain Glen so powerful it could very well bring a good dozen square miles of the city above down on top of whoever was in the tunnels. At that time, Team RWBY was trying to get the bomb to a safer detonation location designated by Doctor Oobleck, who was supervising their mission, but it wasn't going well.

There was a green explosion up ahead, and Yang flew back into a cave wall. She peeled off the rock face and fell to the ground. "Yang!" Ruby used her Semblance to get to her sister's side in less than a second. She cleared out all the Grimm around her before helping Yang to her feet.

"You okay?"

Yang winced and groaned. "Lucky shot."

"You should know that those green ones explode by now!" Weiss yelled as she ran past.

"I'm good, Ruby," Yang said as she reloaded Ember Celica. "Let's get back in there." She ran forward with Ruby right on her heels.

"I could use some help here!" Blake called. Ruby looked to the sound of her teammate's voice and saw Blake surrounded by three Ursai.

"You got this Yang?" Ruby asked. The older sister answered by flashing a grin and sprinting off toward her partner. Ruby ran to catch up with Weiss. She was surrounded by several Creeps and Beowolves. While Weiss was undoubtedly a good fighter, her fighting style was focused on wearing her opponent down with many light attacks, meaning she struggled with the larger and more durable Grimm. Ruby helped her partner by slicing all the Grimm charging behind her in half.

"Nice timing, Ruby," Weiss commented as she stabbed a Beowolf through the eye.

"Come on! We're running out of time!" Ruby sank the tip on Crescent Rose into the head of an Alpha Beowolf. She spun around and cut the front legs off a few Creeps, disabling them. That gave Weiss and her an opening to get to the bomb. The two partners sprinted to the currently stationary mining cart.

Weiss inserted the Dust fuel into the cart so it would move. "How much time we have?"

Ruby looked at the timer. "One minute!" She looked down the tracks. The cart started to move, but at it's current speed, there was no way the bomb would get to the hole Dr. Oobleck said was down the line. Ruby turned back to her sister. "Yang! Can you push this thing any faster?"

Yang leapt into the air and fired her gauntlets behind her to give her the speed necessary to get to the bomb. She landed in a roll, then slammed her shoulder into the cart. Ruby could tell her sister was straining. Her legs dug into the ground after they struggled to find purchase. Veins showed through her arms as Yang tried to push the bomb further. The cart sped up a bit, but even with all of Yang's enormous strength, it just wasn't fast enough.

Ruby looked back at the timer. Thirty seconds. Her heart dropped. There was no way the bomb would get to the safe zone in time now. "RUN!" Yang pushed herself off the bomb and started sprinting. Weiss created several glyphs on the ground and ran across those to accelerate herself. Yang jumped on behind the heiress and grabbed Blake as she ran past. Ruby was still the fastest, and she ran to find a good sniping position to support her team.

When Ruby found a spot, the dug the end on her scythe into the ground and began shooting. It wasn't much, but she could at least thin out the horde a little. She cleared out several dozen Grimm in their path, making the travel for the rest of her team just a little bit easier.

Suddenly Ruby heard a growl to her side. She pulled Crescent Rose out of the ground and swung at the Grimm. Just before the scythe made contact, she saw the sickly green spikes on the creature's back. The Grimm exploded, blasting Ruby off her perch. She fell toward the ground, somehow still holding onto Crescent Rose. There was an impact to her side and she hit the ground relatively lightly. She looked in that direction and saw Yang's concerned face. "You okay?" the older sister asked.

"Yeah." Ruby looked toward the bomb. Three seconds.

Her eyes widened.

Her heart stopped.

Her voice caught in her throat. "No..."

The bomb exploded, sending a shockwave in every direction. The wave hit Ruby and she flew out of her sister's arms like a ragdoll. After that, she saw and heard nothing. If anything, she felt the sensation of slowly falling and her weapon in her left hand.

 _Is this what death feels like?_ she thought. _I thought there was supposed to be a bright light at the end of a tunnel._

Ruby leaned her head back and closed her eyes (or at least the thought she did), resigned to her fate. _Well, Mom, it looks like I'll be seeing you sooner than I thought, or hoped. Yang will probably be with us too. Hope you like Weiss and Blake. If all the stories are right, Dad and Uncle Qrow will be meet us in what feels like no time, too..._

Suddenly, she felt a freezing wind on her face, then a soft impact into something just barely warmer. "Oof!" Ruby pulled her head out of whatever it was. "Snow...Weiss?" She looked to both sides, but didn't see any of her teammates. As she looked at her surroundings, she saw leafless trees instead of rock walls. She was in the middle of a forest?

Ruby stood up, still with Crescent Rose in hand. "Anybody out there? Weiss? Blake? Yang?" She didn't really expect an answer, but the silence still concerned her. "Anyone?" The only sound was the wind rushing through the empty tree branches.

"Am I dead?" she asked to herself. Ruby pinched her arm hard to check. There was supposedly no pain in Heaven, so she thought that that should be a good indicator. She didn't feel much through her sleeve, but she did feel something. Next she raised her right hand and slapped herself in the face. She definitely felt that.

"Okay…Okay…Not dead or asleep…Survival training…" Ruby took her Scroll out of a pocket and searched for a CCT signal. There was nothing in the area. That didn't mean there wasn't anyone listening for people. She opened the distress beacon app and started making an SOS recording.

"To anyone who can hear this, my name is Ruby Rose. I'm separated from my team in a snowy forest. I have no supplies and I have no idea where I am. My Aura's nearly gone, and this wind isn't helping. I need Evac ASAP." She set it on repeat and hoped the Dust battery had enough charge to keep the message going for a while.

Ruby grabbed a spare magazine for her sniper and removed two Burn Dust rounds from it. When held against the body, two of the bullets should in theory keep her warm. If not, she could always use them to start a fire. She folded up Crescent Rose to its travel form. While it still weighed the same, it was far less awkward to carry.

She started walking through the snowy forest, picking a direction at random. The stars and moon were covered with snow clouds, so she couldn't even use those to help figure out a direction. She only had her own instincts to guide her.

As Ruby walked, it became apparent that her Aura wasn't recharging. The base temperature and the wind chill sapped her strength and drained her Aura bit by bit. She raised her hood to hopefully protect her ears from the wind.

After one particularly bitter gust, Ruby looked at the thermometer on her scroll. "Minus five?" The wind blew again and the scroll calculated the wind chill. "Minus twenty?!" That would be lethal if she didn't find some sort of shelter soon. Even a large hollowed out tree would work.

Unfortunately, no shelter was to be found. There wasn't a shortage of trees in the ground Ruby covered, but none were large or thick enough to provide any decent shelter. There weren't any caves in the hills either. Her Aura was practically gone and was still draining quickly. She wouldn't survive much longer if she didn't find something soon.

Ruby trudged over a hill and saw something marvelous through a gap in the trees. _Streetlights!_ She slightly picked up her pace, but that was hard to do with her freezing legs and foot-deep snow. When she was still several hundred feet away, she felt her Aura finally break.

The full force of the wind hit her. She gasped and wrapped her arms around herself. The two Burn Dust rounds were no longer effective at keeping her warm. She kept walking and fumbled around for more. Her fingers were already going numb from the wind though, making the task virtually impossible.

As Ruby approached the road, she stopped shivering. That meant that her body was so cold it didn't even have the energy to futilely try and warm her up. Her mind felt hazy and her vision blurred. _Is this what hypothermia feels like?_

Ruby made it to the edge of the road, but there were no cars in sight. It looked recently cleared so there went rescue from a snowplow. She looked both ways for any sign of a town or city, but the snow made visibility almost nothing. She picked a direction and started walking down the side of the road, hoping she was going the right way. Before she took three steps though, she tripped over her own feet. She fell forward and landed face first in the asphalt.

The road felt warm in comparison to the wind. It was so comfortable too, like her bed back on Patch. Ruby didn't get up, deciding to take a nap in her new bed...

* * *

"Looks like the snow's finally letting up," Fred commented.

"Maybe we shouldn't have come back tonight," Natalie murmured.

"You finally admit it!" Fred took his hands off the wheel for a second. "I don't know how you talked me into driving through a freaking snowstorm at night!"

"Remember the forecast for tomorrow? It was supposed to be way worse. And I thought you didn't mind driving at night."

"I don't when it's past midnight, snowing, and I'm exhausted from after that game!" Fred sighed, then chuckled a little bit. "Still, I can't say that game wasn't fun. You going to Frisco this year?"

"I'm planning on driving down with a bunch of other friends. Don't know if we'll be taking Lindsey's van or renting one for the trip."

"Should've joined the band. This will be my third time going, and I haven't had to pay a cent."

Natalie crossed her arms. "Yeah, that would have gone over so well."

"Not my fault you're the only one in the family who has no musical talent." Natalie fake gasped, then jokingly punched Fred's shoulder. "Hey, not while I'm driving!"

"No fun." Natalie shook her head, then looked up ahead in the road. "Looks like we got a deer on the side of the road."

Fred took his foot slightly off the accelerator. "Alive or dead?" He searched the road ahead for the animal. Sure enough, a little red pile was bunched up under a streetlight. "I don't think that's a deer. I've never seen a deer bleed that much from being hit by a car. It's mainly broken bones. Someone must have lost something." Fred looked in the rearview mirror and saw no one was behind him. He slowed down slightly so Natalie could get a better look as they drove by.

Right as they passed, Natalie gasped, then slapped Fred in the chest several times. "Pull over! Pull over! That was a person!" Fred slammed on the brakes and his relatively new car came to a stop after sliding forward slightly on the ice. He turned on his hazard lights and looked back in his seat behind the car. He slowly reversed his car behind the street light. Fred threw the car back into drive and parked just behind the person lying on the ground, being extremely careful not to hit them.

"Natalie, call 911!" Fred ordered as he removed his seatbelt. He flung open his door and ran over to the downed person. A gust of wind blew off their hood and revealed a teenage girl with black hair and red highlights.

She had a small cut on her forehead, and it most likely would have been bleeding if it hadn't frozen shut. There wasn't any discoloration on her face, meaning she hadn't gotten frostbite yet. Fred placed two fingers on the girl's neck. She still had a pulse.

Fred carefully picked the girl up and walked her over to his 2016 Camaro. Natalie stood outside her door with a phone to her ear. "Nat, clear one of the back seats. I don't care if you break anything."

"What are you doing?" she asked somewhat frantically.

"We can't leave her out here! It's not like we're kidnapping her. You're on the phone with 911!" Natalie gave a sideways nod, then placed her phone above the dashboard. By the time Fred got there, his cousin cleared out a seat with most of their stuff thrown on top of his trombone case. The blankets rested on top of everything. Fred and Natalie gently got the girl into the back seat and buckled her in. They both then got back in the car and closed their doors.

Fred snatched Natalie's phone. "You wrap her up, I'll do the talking." He raised the phone to his ear and turned the car's heater up all the way. "What have you been told?"

There was silence on the other end for a second. "That you found a person lying in the shoulder of I-94." The person on the other end paused.

"Well, we did, and she's alive. I'd say she's between thirteen and fifteen years old. There wasn't any obvious discoloration visible, but she could still have frostbite. Judging by the frozen cut on her head, she's been out here a while, and I'd have to guess she's in the early stages of hypothermia." Fred opened up the glove box and took out the first-aid kit. He handed it to Natalie. "Wrap her head up. Too much is better than not enough." Natalie nodded and opened the kit.

"Okay," the 9-1-1 receptionist said, "and did I hear that you brought her into your vehicle?"

"I don't know if that's against the law, but yes. She has a better chance in here than she does out there."

"Where exactly are you on the road?"

"Just passed the 75 exit, but I'm not planning on staying here long."

"I'm going to have to ask you to stay at that location until an ambulance arrives."

"With all due respect to the first responders, they'd take too long to get here. You can have someone meet me on the road there, but this girl needs medical attention as fast as possible."

Again, silence from the other end. "Alright. What is the description of your vehicle?"

"Dark green 2016 Chevy Camaro, Minnesota plates, I-P-B-I-Z-O-N."

Natalie turned back around and buckled in. "I've done all I could." Fred turned around to see the girl wrapped in several layers of blankets. He handed the phone back to Natalie."You talk, I'll drive." Fred buckled himself in and started driving down the road. Normally, with snow coming down he would have driven at least ten miles under the speed limit like any sensible person. Under the circumstances though, he drove slightly over it. It wasn't like there was anyone else on the road at that time anyway. Still, it took longer than he would have liked to actually reach the next exit to St. Cloud.

Shortly after the exit, Fred saw the red and blue lights of a police cruiser behind him. "Nat, did they say that they'd send an officer to take over?"

"No," Natalie said while looking back at their unconscious passenger. "They did say that they'd send an escort though." Sure enough, the cruiser pulled in front of the Camaro and sped up a little. Fred followed suit and trailed his escort through the city. There were few cars on the road due to the weather and late hour, so the escort was most likely to make sure all the stoplights were green.

After a few more minutes of driving, the two vehicles pulled into St. Cloud Hospital. Fred parked right outside the emergency room. A few doctors and nurses ran out the doors with a gurney in the center of them. Natalie stepped out of the car and moved her seat up. Fred pulled the blankets off the girl so the doctors could get her out slightly quicker.

Once the girl was heading inside, Fred finally allowed himself to breathe easily. He did all he could, now it was up to the professionals. That was a stressful fifteen minutes. It would make a nice story to tell the rest of the 'bones though, not to mention his emergency management classes.

An officer knocked twice on Fred's window. He hit the button to roll it down. "Yes, officer?"

"I'm going to have to ask you a few questions. But first, you're going to have to move your vehicle out of this area."

"Of course. I'll go ahead and park in the garage. Should I meet you right inside these doors?"

"That will do." The officer walked away and Fred rolled his window back up. Natalie sat back down in her seat and closed her door.

"Well, that was a thing," Fred said as he drove toward the visitor's garage.

"I need to call home. Mom and dad might get worried." Natalie opened her phone again.

"Probably a good idea. Mine are actually staying up until I get home."

"That might be a while." Natalie brought her phone up to her ear.

Fred yawned as he pulled into a covered parking spot. "I need another root beer."

* * *

Weiss Schnee didn't know how she got to a desert from Mountain Glen, but she didn't like it. Being raised in the snowy tundras of Atlas only worsened the experience. The temperature around her home barely raised above seventy degrees due to its proximity to the North Pole. Weiss' scroll said the temperature was a hundred and ten. At least it was a dry heat.

She had been walking in the sand for a few hours, and she was quickly running out of Ice Dust. She saved what she had left in case a real emergency popped up. In all that time walking, the only things that showed some sign of civilization were a few oddly shaped airships (Presumably from Vacuo, if the desert was anything to go by) high in the sky. For whatever reason, her scroll wouldn't contact the airships. If there was good in the situation, she didn't see a single Grimm.

When Weiss crested yet another sand dune, she finally saw some vehicles in the distance. Finally, a rescue! "Hey!" she yelled as she ran toward the trucks. "Over here!" A few of the people around the trucks looked in her direction, then entered their vehicles. The three trucks then sped over to the heiress. As they approached, Weiss saw large guns in the truck beds, shockingly reminiscent of Coco Adel's minigun, manned and pointed in her general direction.

Only then did she realize that she had made a terrible mistake by gaining their attention.

Her fears were confirmed when the trucks quickly surrounded Weiss and the men inside pointed their guns at her. The heiress raised her hands to show she wasn't holding a weapon. She made sure Myrtenaster was at the ready for when she made her escape, though.

One man left his truck and raised an assault rifle that looked very much like an KA-74 at Weiss. Some kind of bandanna covered the lower half of his face. He screamed at the heiress in a language she was unfamiliar with. "I don't understand what you're saying!" Weiss yelled back almost frantically, quickly starting to panic.

The Gunman's eyes widened slightly, then narrowed, and Weiss could have sworn the man smirked under his bandana. Then, with an accent as foreign to her as his clothing, said, "American. You'll do."

He turned to another of the trucks and yelled again. Six men got out of the other two trucks and moved toward Weiss. Two of them held metal bars in their hands.

Realizing it was now or never, Weiss quickly drew Myrtenaster and pointed it at the first man. "Call them off! I'm warning you!" He just laughed and said something else. The heiress heard a whooshing sound, then felt a metal bar hit the back of her head. Instead getting knocked unconscious like her assailants must have expected, she quickly turned around and stabbed the bar wielder in the gut. No Aura protected him, and he screamed in agony as the rapier went all the way through his lower torso.

The other members of the group shouted in panic and raised their guns. Weiss didn't give those on the ground the chance to use them. Using her Semblance to speed herself up, she rushed between all of them, taking them out in a similar way to the first.

Two of the miniguns on the back of the trucks opened fire on Weiss. She felt her Aura draining as the bullets hit her, but not as much as she expected. The Huntress flipped herself onto the back of one of the trucks and slashed at the gun's operator, nearly cutting his head off. After that, she manned the gun herself and took out the other two trucks, riddling them with countless bullet holes.

After barely a half-minute fight, Weiss was the only one still on her feet and uninjured. Everyone else lay dead or dying. As her adrenaline rush faded, she realized what she just had just done.

Ten people lay dead at her hands.

They were trying to abduct her, or worse, and they could have been connected to the White Fang, but that didn't make ending nearly a dozen people's lives any better.

She stood in shock for about a minute, then shook herself out of it. She had to get out of there, in case more soldiers came. Weiss let go of the machine gun she didn't know she'd been gripping so tightly until then and quickly opened the driver's side door.

Mercifully, there wasn't a corpse in the cab. The heiress got in and quickly drove off. She followed the tracks the trucks had made to get to her for a few miles, then veered off, deciding that going to where her attackers came from was a suicidal idea.

Weiss drove for some time, hoping she could come across something. Eventually, she saw a walled village in the distance. She stopped her stolen truck and walked around back again. While it would be nice to have the extra firepower the weapon provided, the locals might not approve of a truck with a large machine gun on the back. Since Weiss didn't have any actual tools, she sliced the legs off with her rapier and pushed the massive gun off. It would soon be covered by blowing sand.

The heiress drove to the village and parked outside. None of the interior roads looked big enough for the truck with all of the people walking around. Weiss left the vehicle and walked into the was a decrepit-looking place, with old, run-down buildings, dirt roads and pathways, and people in tattered clothing looking dirty and malnourished. It couldn't have been larger than a few acres, yet Weiss would have guessed there to have been hundreds of people in the streets alone.

 _How could anybody live like this? And how had this place not have been destroyed by Grimm yet?_ She hadn't seen anybody who looked like a Huntsman, and couldn't imagine there being one here who would let the village fall into such decay. _How do these people defend themselves?_

All the villagers were talking the same language as the kidnappers from before. All of them either looked at Weiss then quickly walked away, or pretended she wasn't there and quickened their pace, as if wanting to get away from her.

One elderly woman though made her way through the crowd toward Weiss, pulling her out of the open. She was wearing a veil that completely obscured her face and body like all the other women she'd seen, but her slow, slightly hunched gait indicated her age "You are American?" She asked in semi-broken Vytalian.

Weiss was about to say no, but that was the same word that her attackers used. Unlike those soldiers though, the woman didn't appear hostile. If anything, she appeared concerned. After a few seconds, Weiss replied, "Yes, I am."

The woman cautiously looked to either side of her, then back at Weiss. "Come. Not safe here." She turned and walked through an alleyway, towards the village wall behind the buildings. Weiss followed the woman, keeping her guard up. She wasn't exactly sure if the woman could be fully trusted, but she had no one else to trust at the moment.

The two made their way to the back door of a house. The woman looked around, then gave two quick knocks and opened the door. There weren't any lights and all the furniture in the room was missing some type of covering. Weiss didn't think she'd be anywhere near this place if she had a choice. Two other people were in the room, an aging man and a younger boy. The woman's husband and grandchild, perhaps?

The woman turned back to Weiss. "Why you here? Here very, very bad place."

"I don't know." Weiss took care to speak slowly so the woman could understand her. She sat down in one of the few chairs. "There was an explosion and I got separated from my team. I don't know where they are. I don't even know where I am. I was ambushed in the desert by some men who attacked me, and I took one of their vehicles." She looked down at her lap.

The woman blinked. "Team…You army?"

"What? No." Weiss fervently shook her head. "I'm a Huntress."

"Hunted..." The woman nodded sadly, misunderstanding what she said. "They take young women and children. Not safe here, you in danger."

"Wait... they take people... as in kidnapping?" Weiss suddenly felt far less guilty about killing those people.

"Yes. They keep in town. Do… bad things to them." The woman seemed on the verge of tears.

Whatever residual fear she felt was replaced by shock, then a steely determination as Weiss made up her mind. There was absolutely no question as to what to do next. She wanted to be a Huntress, and it was time to start acting like one. "Do you know where they took them?"

* * *

"These men weren't killed by bullets, ma'am," Private Parker said. "They've been slashed and stabbed. I don't think it's the new wildlife around here either. It's too smooth."

Lieutenant Clara Flowers looked around the devastation. This definitely wasn't the work of the coalition military. Only three of the corpses had bullet wounds, and there weren't any bomb craters anywhere indicating an airstrike. Since there were corpses left to observe, it couldn't have been Grimm either.

There was no way some bog-standard human could have taken out a convoy of armored vehicles with nothing but a sword; that was a forgone conclusion. No, this had to have been the work of someone with superhuman abilities.

She could only think of one other possibility: someone else from Remnant made it to Earth.

But unlike her, whoever made it appeared in hostile territory. That didn't mean Clara arrived in the friendliest area either. She arrived over sixteen years ago just outside New York City. From there, she tried to get around in the astonishingly large metropolis for a few months. After several months living on the streets, then in homeless shelters, she had scraped together enough money working multiple jobs to purchase a small apartment.

A few months after that, she had bought a television and a laptop, and even planned on taking some classes at her local community center to both further her education on her new world and better help others. Things seemed to be coming up roses for Clara, so to speak.

Then the planes hit the Twin Towers.

Like everyone across the country and world, Clara was shocked to her core. Unlike so many others though, she could do something about it. Her Semblance allowed instant point-to-point travel. She didn't know how many times she went in and out of those buildings that day, and she didn't care.

After the first tower fell, she sped up as much as she could, taking as many people as possible to a safe location away from the burning buildings. Even when she was about to pass out from exhaustion, she kept going. Only when the second tower fell did she allow herself to collapse.

Somewhere in that frenzy, Clara must have rescued a high ranking government official. Three weeks after 9/11, a couple of FBI agents came to her apartment. They asked her to come with them and took her somewhere outside the city for questioning. Having heard rumors about what the U.S. government did to get information out of people, she was worried that she'd have to kill the men with her in the windowless van and have to escape, then spend the rest of her life on the run.

Instead, they offered her a job.

As it turned out, almost every government agency had a need for her Semblance. For a few years, she served on the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team. They never lost a single hostage during that time. After a while though, she became concerned about what was happening in the Middle East. She tuned out all the politics, all the hatred.

She focused on all the people, all the families that were being torn apart. It wasn't just from terrorists either; First-World countries raked in a hefty death toll too. For a while, she thought about going out on her own to help out where she could, but figured it would be better to have some backup.

Her superiors agreed, though as with her previous career, she would have to keep her talents a secret from all but a few trusted people. They would assign her to a squad of four members, including herself, who would help train her in all the things she needed to serve in the Middle East. She smiled when she heard that. She had missed being part of a team.

So there she was, part of one of the few American squads still in Iraq. She helped her fair share of people; even without firing a weapon, she had saved countless lives, earning herself a reputation as a harbinger of peace, an angel where things always got better wherever she went.

For some people, a simple act of compassion made all the difference. With others, unfortunately, she had to use force. So many people kidnapped, all of their faces burned into her mind forever.

The scene in front of her reminded her of her first few weeks in the country. Her squad picked off small patrols and raiding groups. The particular cell that this group was a part of typically traveled in groups of three trucks, yet there were only two there. Whoever just arrived from Remnant must have taken the third. The tracks on the ground leading away from the scene proved that. She followed the tracks with her eyes. "Remind me, Parker, there's a village in that direction, correct?"

"Yes ma'am, about ten klicks away." Parker stood back from the body he was inspecting.

The lieutenant nodded. "Looks like that's our next stop, whether this bunch was from there or not."

* * *

 **Yep. Earth. I've always liked fanfics that intersect with Earth. I will say this, I am going to try and stay away from politics, except for maybe a few bashes at a certain presidential candidate. I would rather not open certain cans of worms. Also, this won't come in till later, but there is a slight time dilation between Remnant and Earth. Also, for those of you who read Rubys and Scales, there is a good chance there will be some references in here, but these two stories are not linked in any way.**

 **Again, this first chapter is to test the waters. Reviews are especially appreciated here.**


	2. Day 2

**The first chapter went over well, I feel. This chapter** _ **might**_ **be the last, depending on the reception though. I'm not feeling this as much anymore.  
**

 **A few more things, this version of Earth does not have the pleasure of having the show. That would just make things awkward for everyone. Also, I OWN NOTHING!**

* * *

Weiss snuck around the village after dark. Apparently the kidnapper's base of operations was well known to the locals, but no one could do anything about it. They were all too scared. Weiss knew she could take them all out if necessary, but would strongly prefer not to.

For whatever reason, people around there, wherever here was, didn't have their Auras unlocked, which seemed strange, given that those people included armed soldiers. The heiress didn't have anything on her person that could temporarily immobilize, rather than outright kill an enemy. Then again, if what the old woman she had spoken to earlier implied they did to their victims was true, maybe these men were better off dead...

Weiss had been staking the place for at least two hours, checking patrols, looking for gaps, how attentive the guards were, anything that would give her the upper hand.

The one guard standing on the roof looked like he was falling asleep. Weiss decided it was time to make her move. She rotated Myrtenaster's Dust chambers to Ice, so she had the best chance at immobilizing the guards. As expected, a one-man patrol passed by the main door. He passed around the corner of the building and out of sight.

Weiss jumped across rooftops toward her destination. She jumped over to the kidnappers' building unseen. As quickly and quietly as she could do in heels (she'd have to find better shoes sometime later), she snuck up behind the man. She then drew Myrtenaster and pointed it at the guard's feet. Ice quickly formed on the man's lower legs and traveled up his body. Within a second, he was completely frozen. Since the desert air was cold that night, it shouldn't thaw for quite a while.

The Huntress then stalked to the door and stepped through. She was stepping into the unknown. She knew she had to help these people, but it set her on edge. While those men in the desert didn't get through her Aura, they still could potentially manage that feat here, where they knew the layout and may have had better weapons than before. There could also be many more hostiles in here than in the desert. She could very well be injured or killed.

Still, there was no way she was turning back. Weiss walked through the halls, looking into every room. Most were empty and showed no sign of habitation. Others had sleeping men in them, but given that they had guns by their beds, they weren't prisoners.

Then she heard crying in a room down the hall. Weiss slowed down and peeked into the room. Dozens of people stood chained to the wall or lay behind bars. A little boy lay in the arms of a woman, most likely his mother. Others stood away, giving the two space. The mother said something to her son in the same foreign language as before.

Weiss stepped into the room. "Hey!" she whispered loudly.

All eyes in the room turned to the heiress. "Bloody hell! Where'd you come from?" one man asked. His accent was like Velvet's, though slightly off somehow. He was dressed in the tattered remains of a once nice suit.

"Outside, which is where you'll all get if you come with me." Weiss raised her rapier. "Step away from the door." She rotated the Dust chambers to Burn Dust, then pointed Myrtenaster at the lock. She would have to be careful as to not hurt the prisoners. A small stream shot out of the tip and vaporized the lock. The door opened on its own.

"Great, now how are we getting out of here?" the smartly dressed man asked.

"The rooftops. They should be close enough to-" Gunshots.

Weiss turned around and raised Myrtenaster in front of her. No one stood at the door, but that would most likely change quickly. Yelling quickly joined the shooting. After a few seconds, footsteps pounded down the halls. Weiss turned back to the prisoners. "You might want to cover your eyes." Several of the younger one did as told, while the adults simply turned away.

Pounding footsteps drew closer, followed by several men running past the door. There was a pause, then one came back. Before he could do anything, Weiss charged forward and stabbed him through the chest. She covered the man's mouth so he wouldn't alert the others. Eventually he went limp, and Weiss pulled out her rapier. Again, she was appalled at what she did, but it was unfortunately necessary.

The gunshots from elsewhere stopped, but there were more footfalls coming her way. Weiss ducked back into the prison and prepared herself for more. She could take one at a time in the doorway. Any more and she'd be in trouble.

The footsteps continued and got louder, until they completely stopped. Judging from their former volume, their owners were right outside. Weiss considered blasting the wall down, but that could possibly injure the prisoners, as none of them had their Aura unlocked either.

A hand came into view from around the corner and it tossed something into the room. Weiss watched the cylinder fall to the floor and her eyes widened. Grenades came in all shapes and sizes, and that was clearly one of them. She most likely wouldn't be able to get it back around the corner before it exploded, and even then the walls were so poorly constructed they could collapse on the people she was trying to save.

Weiss threw Myrtenaster to the side and jumped toward the grenade. Her Aura might be able to stop the explosive blast and save the lives of the others in the room. Before she could fall on it though, it went off. There was an extremely bright light and an extremely loud noise. Her Aura flared, absorbing the damage, though the drain wasn't that extreme. Still, she was temporarily blinded and deaf.

The Huntress fell to the ground and didn't get up. She couldn't trust her arms. Shortly after she hit the floor, she felt the footsteps start again and people entering the room, then something cold and metallic at the base of her head. Weiss froze in place, not willing to breathe. That feeling could only be one thing.

The gun stayed in place behind her head for a painfully long time. When it finally left, two strong arms hoisted Weiss to her feet. She still couldn't see anything, and the only thing she could hear was ringing. Weiss was forced to talk forward and down stairs, which was fairly difficult when she wasn't able to see and barely able to walk.

Eventually, she felt the cold night breeze on her face. For the first time since the explosion, Weiss heard something. It sounded like an engine, but it was so faint she couldn't tell for sure. Soon after, her legs hit something metal about a foot off the ground. Someone grabbed her arm and pulled her up with surprising care. She tripped over the metal, but fell into a somewhat padded seat.

Weiss righted herself as best as the could in her current state. She felt her seat rock, like someone just got into a vehicle. At least she had an idea of where she was. She was starting to see shapes again as well, though they were faded and blurry as they walked past, but it was better than nothing.

The vehicle started moving, and Weiss felt herself moving sideways. The ride was bumpy, but then again, there weren't any paved roads in the area. As time went on, her hearing and sight slowly returned. She could finally see who was sitting across from her.

He wore a highly outdated set of combat armor and carried what looked like a modified V4. Unlike the other armed people Weiss saw had seen so far, the way he sat and held the weapon indicated he was an honest-to-goodness soldier.

"W-who are you people?" Weiss asked. Even though her hearing was returning, her voice was no louder than a whisper to her ears, and she stuttered slightly as she spoke.

The soldier looked directly at Weiss and spoke in a loud voice, "Right now, all you need to know is you're in custody of the U.S. Army."

* * *

 _The who?_ Weiss thought to herself. She looked elsewhere in the truck and saw several of the former prisoners. Even in the faint light of the moon and through blurred vision, she could tell most, if not all of them looked extremely relieved. Weiss hoped that was a good sign. She turned back to the soldier. "Where am I?"

The soldier smirked. "You're a long way from home, little girl. You're in Iraq."

Yang stretched her arms above her head and yawned loudly. That was the first time she slept in an alley, and God did she hope it would be the last. It didn't help that it was horribly cold outside, but at least it was above freezing.

She walked out of the alley into the busy city street. If Yang knew where she was, the city would be an impressive sight. She definitely wasn't in Vale, and the tallest building she saw had to be at least a hundred feet taller than the Atlas CCT. Given that the Atlas CCT was the world's tallest building at fifteen-hundred feet, that shouldn't have been possible. The cars on the street weren't any of the brands she knew of either. Ford? GMC? Jeep? What they heck were they?

The screens they had in stores and hanging on buildings didn't help either. Yang thought a city that size would at least have hologram projections. There weren't any to be seen. In fact, most of the technology she saw quite literally looked to be older than Uncle Qrow, and Uncle Qrow was ancient! Even Vacuo wasn't that bad off.

But even with this obvious gap in technology, hundreds if not thousands of people walked the streets, many of them very smartly dressed. There were so many contradictions in the city, it shouldn't have been possible.

A cold breeze blew down the road, causing Yang to shiver. For the first time in a long time, she had her jacket fully zipped up, not that it helped her midriff, or her legs (She had never truly considered practicality when she designed her combat outfit, and now it was seriously starting to come back and bite her). She got quite a few stares and wolf whistles from sleazy-looking guys on the sidewalk. She rolled her eyes and didn't pay them any mind. All guys were the same.

Her own predicament wasn't what got to her though. While Yang was concerned that she didn't know where she was or what was going on, she was completely mortified that Ruby was potentially in a similar situation. Blake knew how to take care of herself on her own, and Weiss knew how to talk her way in and out of things. Ruby had none of that. There was also the possibility that they all were…no. They couldn't have. Yang was closest to the blast, Ruby was blown away, and Weiss and Blake kept running. They all might have made it.

Yang walked into a department store named 'Old Navy,' a likely rip-off of Old Blue back in Vale. On the inside, it sure looked like it. Everything was laid out how she expected from the store back home. She made her way over to the women's section to see if she could get some jeans or something else to keep her legs warm.

When she got to the section that sold pants though, she noticed something that made her pause. Looking at the price tags, Yang didn't know what to do. All four Kingdoms had converted to Lien after the Great War, something about fighting inflation or whatever, and it was a rather serious crime to use non-issued money.

The price tag she was looking at definitely wasn't Lien. Its symbol was an S with two vertical lines running through it, nothing like the symbol for Lien at all. It was just her luck; the one time she accidentally brought money on a mission, she couldn't even use it when she needed to most.

With her money useless, she had no choice but to leave the store empty handed. Yang was running out of ideas. She had no money, no friends, and running out of hope. There was one more thing she could try. She just needed to find a police officer or a Huntsman.

After a few blocks of walking, Yang's hopes began to rise as she found a police station. As she walked inside, however, she didn't know what to say, since even in the fantastical world of Remnant her situation was highly implausible. She'd probably just wing it like she always did. An officer looked up from his desk and waved Yang over. "How can I help you?" he asked, politely not commenting about her rather… unique attire.

Yang took a breath through her teeth. "I know this is going to sound weird, but I don't know if my friends are missing or I am."

The officer sat a little bit straighter in his seat. "Can you explain?"

Yang hesitated for a split second. The mission her team was on wasn't exactly public knowledge. "That's the problem. I don't know how I got to the city. The last thing I remember before waking up in an alley was my friends and I exploring a cave out west. I tried calling them, but for whatever reason I can't get a signal here."

The officer straightened slightly more. "It almost sounds like you were kidnapped."

The blonde shivered. "If that's what happened, they did a bad job. I still have my money, Scroll, and all my clothes."

"'Scroll?'" the officer asked, confused.

"Yeah," Yang reached into a pocket and took out her scroll and opened it up. "You know, these things."

The officer looked surprised, then shook his head. "Kids and their technology," the man sighed. "Alright, I need a few pieces of information from you. First off, what's your name?"

"Yang Xiao Long." Yang spelt her name out for the officer. It wasn't exactly easy for those who just heard it for the first time.

"Okay, where are you from?"

"The island of Patch, just off the coast of Vale."

The officer raised an eyebrow. "International?"

Yang shrugged. "I guess? Like I said, I have no idea where I am."

"…If anything, I would have thought you were Canadian. Now what are the names of your friends that you've been separated from?"

"Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna." Yang helped the man out where needed. "I have pictures of them all too." She opened the gallery on her scroll and showed the officer. The top of the screen still showed that she had no reception. There went sending the officer the pictures directly. Still, he took notes on their appearances and put them into his computer.

"Okay, is there anything else you would…hold on a second..." The officer looked intently at his screen. "This is new…" He looked over his shoulder. "Hey Sarge, what do you make of this?"

Another officer came over and looked at the first one's screen. "Haven't seen this order before." He sighed, then looked at Yang. "I'm sorry miss… She-ow Long, but I'm going to have to ask you to come with me."

Yang took an unintentional step back, surprised. "What did I do?"

"I honestly don't know. Something you said must have tripped something in a government database." He walked out from behind the desk and opened a door to somewhere else in the station. "If you would please follow me."

Yang hesitated before following. Considering the officer was asking rather nicely and there weren't any other cops moving toward her, she probably wasn't in too much trouble. Something else must have happened in Mountain Glen and these officers got caught up in the middle.

Dread suddenly filled Yang as all sorts of terrible scenarios filled her mind. _Please guys, don't be dead…_

* * *

Ruby slowly opened her eyes, then shut them again almost immediately. The room was too bright. Weiss must have gotten up early and opened the curtains again. Ruby turned over, or tried to anyway. There was something in her nose and another thing tugged on her arm. She lay flat on her back again and opened her eyes to get a good look at what restrained her.

She wasn't in her dormitory. White panels lined the ceiling, along with a few recessed tube lights. An old flat screen television sat on an unfamiliar dresser. The air smelled of antiseptic and bleach. Ruby looked to her left and saw an IV drip hooked up to her arm. She reached up with her right to feel what was in her nose and felt an oxygen tube leading into her nostrils.

Ruby laid back on her pillow. She was in a hospital somewhere, but for what reason? What happened back in the forest couldn't have been real, right? The explosion under Mountain Glen must have knocked her out and she was sent to the hospital to recover. She looked at the wall to her left and saw a whiteboard. The words 'hypothermia' and 'head trauma' were written in black marker.

 _Head trauma?_ Ruby carefully reached a hand up to her head and felt a bandage wrapped around her skull. _How did…the road._ She tripped over her own feet and fell face-first onto the asphalt. What happened last night must have been real after all...

Another thought struck Ruby. Where was Yang? Where were Weiss and Blake? Where was _she?_ She assumed that since she was in a hospital that she wasn't in danger, but she had learned the hard way that assuming things led to trouble. She was alone, with people she knew nothing about.

Ruby heard a door open, then close as someone entered. A nurse stepped into her field of view. She smiled. "Good to see you're awake."

The girl groggily nodded. "Where am I, and how did I get here?"

The nurse' smile disappeared. "You're in St. Cloud Hospital. A couple of Good Samaritans found you on the side of the road late last night. You were brought in at about two o'clock this morning."

"Was there anyone else with me?"

The nurse looked worried. "No. Was there supposed to be?"

Ruby nodded and her eyes became watery. "Three others. Two friends and my sister."

"Okay...Could you give me their descriptions so I gave give them to the police?"

"I have pictures on my Scroll." Ruby looked to her left and saw it sitting on an end table, along with an archaic TV remote. Crescent Rose was nowhere to be seen. She grabbed her Scroll and flipped through the pictures until the found one of her whole team, taken before the mission began. Ruby handed her scroll to the nurse.

"That picture is really high quality…And what are their names?"

"Yang Xiao Long, Weiss Schnee, and Blake Belladonna."

"Okay, I'll be back as soon as possible." The nurse took the Scroll with her as she left the room.

Alone once again, Ruby reached for the TV remote. She turned the flat screen on and searched for a news station. It took her a few cycles through all the channels until she found what looked like VNN, only on this station it was called CNN. _That's weird. Why'd they change their name?  
_  
As she watched, she started to realize something was wrong. The anchors were talking about places she'd never heard of, like California, North Carolina, France, and several others. There was no mention of how Amity Colosseum was getting ready to leave its dock in Vacuo and head to Vale for the Vytal Festival. The only thing relating to Grimm was that apparently the 'United States and Russia' were in having conference to figure out how to end the threat before it escalated, as if billions of monsters just outside the Kingdom walls could somehow get worse.

When the 'news' went to commercial, Ruby thought that maybe it was some sort of parody, maybe it was some sort of comedy show (Though it seemed to take itself very seriously for one) and that the commercials would be for products she recognized.

Instead, everything shown were for ripoff products and places. Brand names that sounded like those from Vale were spelled or pronounced wrong, and the locations to buy them at were part of a city called 'St. Cloud,' which she knew for a fact wasn't a place.

She flipped through the channels again to see if anything else looked off. Ruby grew more and more worried and sped up as she searched. Nearly everything she saw was a ripoff of something she was familiar with. Places, celebrities, brand names, even some shows that she should have recognized were different from what they should have been. There was absolutely nothing completely familiar.

The door to her room opened again and the nurse reentered. "Here's your phone back." She handed over Ruby's scroll

 _Phone?_ Ruby took her scroll, then looked back at the nurse. "Where am I?"

The nurse's shoulders slumped and she smiled sadly. "You're in St. Cloud Hospital. A couple of Good Samaritans-"

"You said that already!" Ruby interrupted, starting to panic. "Where is that?"

"St. Cloud, Minnesota," the nurse spoke carefully, not wanting to excite the girl further.

Ruby's eyes widened and her heart sunk. Minnesota. Another fake place. "Where is that? What Kingdom?"

"Kingdom?" The nurse furrowed her eyebrows. "We're in the United States of America…Would it help if you saw a map?" Ruby quickly nodded her head. She at least knew what Remnant's continents looked like. The nurse pulled a strange-looking Scroll with a hard back out of her pocket and tapped a few things on the screen. She turned it to face Ruby.

The girl instantly knew that she was in trouble. The map showed a Kingdom stretching from the coast of one ocean all the way to another. The only Kingdom she knew came close to that was Vacuo, and the map definitely wasn't Vacuo. "Can you zoom out?" With a flick of two fingers, the map expanded to include what looked like the entire planet.

While the maps of Remnant weren't the greatest, due to the lack of satellite technology that would have made viewing the planet as a whole far easier, she should have at least recognized something. There was no continent spreading from the Eastern to Western Hemisphere along the equator, no continent near the North Pole where Atlas would be, no Mistral, no Patch, no Menagerie.

Ruby looked back at the Nurse. "Is Yang out in the hall? This joke isn't funny anymore." Throughout her whole ordeal she had hoped against hope that this was some sort of prank pulled by her sister, but Yang would never even think of pulling something this elaborate or cruel.

"I'm sorry, but this isn't a joke." The nurse put on a genuinely concerned expression.

Ruby looked past the nurse. "Yang, I know you're out there! The joke was funny for a little bit, but not anymore!"

"There's no one out in the hallway," the nurse said sternly.

"Of course there is. There has to be." Tears started streaming from Ruby's eyes. "Otherwise I have no idea where I am and I'm completely alone."

* * *

Clara stood looking through the one-way mirror at the girl who supposedly freed the other prisoners from their cell just before her team got there. What the girl said to another interrogator confirmed that she was in fact from Remnant. A Schnee no less.

She wouldn't say what she was doing before she arrived in the desert. Until the interrogator spoke with her, she apparently thought she was still on Remnant. Only when she saw a map of Earth did she finally cave in to the thought.

For the past half hour, Weiss had been left mostly alone, except for someone asking how she liked her coffee, not that they had the best stuff in the first place. Still, she wasn't a prisoner, and she shouldn't be treated as such.

When Clara felt enough time had passed, she walked into the interrogation room. Maybe the girl would open up to somebody else from Remnant who knew what she was going through. She carried a hot cup of black sludge that was supposed to be coffee for the girl. Weiss looked up at the lieutenant, blinked rapidly, then squinted her eyes. "Weiss Schnee," Clara started, "you're a long way from home."

After a second's pause, "I'll say. I'm not even on Remnant anymore…"

Clara set the coffee on the table. "I know this must be confusing for you. These sort of things tend to change a person's view on life."

"You say that like it's happened before."

Clara blinked. "I believe we've met once before." Weiss quirked her eyebrows slightly. "Your father wanted security for an event just outside Vale, so he hired my team to clear the Grimm out of the area and keep them away until the event was over. I believe you were only three or four years old at the time, so I wouldn't expect you to remember me."

Weiss squinted again. "What did you say your name was?"

"Lieutenant Clara Flowers." She unintentionally used her long time alias. Old habits died hard, it would seem.

"I don't think I've heard that name before…How long have you been here?"

"Over sixteen years. It was hard at first, being separated from my family and friends, all the different technology and laws and customs. It still is, but I've gotten used to how things are done here. Getting used to having oil and natural gas instead of Dust for fuel was probably the biggest change. And before you ask, no, there isn't any Dust on Earth. Not a speck."

"No Dust?!" Weiss screeched, her eyes going wide with shock. "How can any of this stuff be powered? How can _oil_ be used to power anything?"

"You'd be surprised. Another thing Earth has over Remnant is that Grimm are not natives here." That statement made Weiss' jaw practically hit the floor. "Yeah. That was close to my reaction too. No Grimm also means no Huntsmen and Huntresses though. I had to find other things to sustain myself with until I did something to catch the government's eye.

"Unfortunately though, there have been Grimm sightings around the world since I have arrived here. At first, it was only a young Beowolf or two, and only once or twice a year. Now, they happen almost every month in populated cities around the world, and in hordes. The United States recently located a nest of nearly a hundred large Deathstalkers in Missouri - one of the states in that country - and bombed it out of existence. People are getting scared, and you know what that does?"

"More Grimm." Weiss nodded. "So what are you doing here?"

"Killing Grimm isn't the only way to reduce their strength. The people living in this part of the world live in constant fear of being taken from their homes and beaten, or getting kidnapped and tortured, or having their villages bombed to eliminate potential terrorists.

"It's arguably the most volatile, unstable regions on Earth, for decades before I even arrived. As you'd expect, all the fear and hatred here drew in Grimm by the thousands, wiping out large portions of the region. That village you were rescued from was one of the lucky ones, if anyone forced to live here could ever be called lucky.

"The reason I'm here is to get rid of that fear and hatred, to give the people hope and courage in the face of monsters, Grimm or human, to show them true peace, so that they may live, not just survive."

Clara leaned forward in her chair. "Now then. I've told you a little bit about myself, so why don't you tell me what you were doing before you arrived here?"

Weiss paused for several long seconds. This woman was near single-handedly trying to save countless people from terrorists AND Grimm, to improve their lives and give them hope. It was the epitome of what a Huntress should be, and Weiss felt completely humbled by her. Finally, she spoke.

"My team was investigating a few control centers that went offline in the Emerald Forest. There were a few logos for Merlot Industries on the control centers and on a few shipping containers around them."

Clara nodded. "I was investigating them when I got sent here. Go on."

"We then went to their headquarters in Mountain Glen, but got trapped underground after an earthquake. While in the caves, we found a massive bomb that should have killed all of us, but instead it sent me here."

"The others are probably somewhere on Earth. What are their names?"

"Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose-"

Clara gasped loudly. She tensed and grabbed the table. Her eyes started to tear up. All those years of military decorum disappeared at the mention of one name that she never thought she'd hear again. "You…you know my Ruby?" she whispered.

Weiss blinked rapidly, then furrowed her eyebrows. "You know her?"

"How is she? Has she made any friends? She's old enough to be at Beacon now? I've miscounted the years. What about Yang? Has she-"

"Wait a minute!" Weiss interrupted. "How do you know Ruby and Yang? Who are you?"

The lieutenant calmed herself down and smiled sadly. "Ruby and Yang might have talked about me. 'Clara Flowers' is just the alias I've used since I got here. My real name is Summer Rose."

* * *

 **That revelation surprised about, one person I'm guessing.**

 **Anyway, I'm not sure if I'm going to do a POV for Blake for a while. She is on Earth, but the way I have it planned out, it would be too similar to Yang. I don't want to repeat the same situation but in another part of the country. And about the ammo mags in a hospital, well, if there's a next chapter you'll see.**


	3. Grimm Reality

**Decided to go one(+) more. I couldn't just leave Ruby in the hospital.**

* * *

Fred walked into St. Cloud Hospital for the second time in three days. A little over an hour ago, he got a call from the hospital saying that Ruby, the girl he picked up from the side of the interstate, was ready to be discharged. The problem was, she didn't have anywhere to go besides back out on the streets. The hospital couldn't even tell if Ruby was an American citizen, or if she had any insurance. It was either Fred or Natalie pick the girl up, or they'd have no choice but to send her to an orphanage.

Not willing to let that happen, Fred drove back up to St. Cloud to take Ruby to his house. Still, he felt really, really awkward about taking a teenage girl he didn't know home with him. If his friends in the marching band knew about this, he'd doubtlessly end up the butt of every crude, vulgar, humiliating joke and rumor. It wouldn't matter if they knew that Fred picked up Ruby while she was unconscious on the side of the road and had saved her life.

He sat in the waiting room for a few minutes until a nurse showed up with Ruby in tow. That was the first time that Fred got a good look at the girl. She was a short one, her head just coming up to his shoulders. About as tall as his sister, actually. Fred thought he was pale before Band Camp, but Ruby looked like she hadn't seen any sun in a few months. As far as he could tell, Ruby wore the same stuff as when he picked her up off the interstate. Her clothes looked like something out of a Victorian-themed anime, with a black-and-red corset, skirt, boots, and a cape. It was rather odd, to say the least.

Still, she was up and walking around, and that was the important thing. Ruby didn't even have a scar on her forehead from where the cut was. Sure, she looked as uncomfortable with the situation as Fred felt, but she looked physically healthy and intact.

Fred walked over to the girl and stuck his hand out. "Hello, I'm Fred Olson."

Ruby hesitantly took the outstretched hand and shook it. "I'm Ruby Rose…So you're the one who rescued me from the road?"

"Me and a cousin anyway. We couldn't exactly leave you there. The shoulder on an interstate isn't exactly the best place to take a nap."

"It wasn't exactly my choice." Somehow, Ruby looked even smaller than she was.

Fred winced. Apparently the girl wasn't in a joking mood, which was completely understandable. "Look, I know this is an awkward situation for all of us. If you're not comfortable with this, I'm sure the police or someone here could find another place for you to stay."

Ruby shrugged. "It was this or an orphanage, they told me."

Fred nodded, then looked at his watch. "We should probably get going if we want to beat rush hour." He looked at the nurse that accompanied Ruby. "Is she all checked out?"

The nurse nodded. "Yes. You two are free to go."

"Okay then, I'll go get my car." Fred looked back at Ruby. "It's on the other side of the lot and you're not exactly wearing winter clothing." Ruby nodded slowly, then Fred turned around and walked into the frigid afternoon air. It was warmer than three nights ago, but not by much. A cold front moved in and school districts across the state were closed due to cold weather and wind chill. Fred rolled his eyes at the thought. This was Minnesnowta. Those kids could take the cold.

Fred arrived at his car and got in. Luckily it hadn't completely frozen over on the inside. He drove under the overhang and waited for Ruby to come out. When she did, she sprinted from inside the building over to the passenger side door. She flung open the door, took a seat, and closed the door in what looked like a single motion. After shivering for a second, she said, "It's freezing out there!"

"Could be worse." Fred put his Camaro into drive and pulled out of the parking lot. "Some places north of us are getting fifty mile an hour winds."

Ruby shivered again. "That can't be easy. I wonder how much Weiss had to deal with this."

"Weiss?" Fred half turned to look at Ruby.

"She's a friend." She looked around the Camaro for the first time. "This is a nice car."

Fred smirked. "Yep. Not many college juniors can say that they have their dream car, and even less can say that they didn't have to pay anything for it."

"Wait, what?"

"I won a contest earlier in the year. One out of over a hundred thousand chance, and I got this baby." Fred grimaced. "Sometimes I wish I didn't win though. The taxes and insurance are killing me."

Ruby nodded unsurely, then turned around. "Wait, there was another person in here when you picked me up? How'd you manage that?"

"Natalie and I laid you against the side with your legs across the seats. Don't ask me why they put seats back there though. There is literally no leg room." Fred turned onto I-94 south and hit the gas. "You hungry? There's a really nice bakery farther along the road. There's also a few Culver's further along."

"What's at the bakery?" Ruby sounded genuinely interested.

"Doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, cookies, pretty much anything you'd expect. It's really good stuff."

"That would be nice, but... I don't exactly have any money." Ruby shrunk into her seat.

"I'll take care of that. It's not like they're five bucks a pop." Fred took his phone out of his pocket. "Mind if I put on some music?"

Ruby shrugged. "You're driving." Fred set his phone beneath the dash and opened Spotify. He opened his 'Random Mix' playlist. The sound of a violin mixed with drums and electric guitars played over the speakers. Of course Skillet was one of the first bands up, even though he had it on shuffle. Apparently Ruby recognized the music. "Wait, is that Frying Pan?" Fred looked over and saw a look of genuine confusion on the girl's face.

"Close enough. Skillet's made that joke once or twice. You listen to them?"

"Maybe?" Ruby stared at the radio, eyes narrowed and unblinking.

"If you don't like it, I can change it."

"No. I like this song." Ruby closed her eyes and laid back in her seat. Fred watched her through the corner of his eye. Skillet wasn't exactly the kind of band that lulls a person to sleep. They also had a very distinct sound. Ruby should know if she listens to their music.

Fred turned off the interstate at the right exit and pulled into Nelson's Bakery. Luckily there was a spot close to the entrance so Ruby wouldn't have to spend too much time outside in the frigid air. They both ran into the warmth of the bakery and were immediately immersed in the smell of freshly baked goods.

Ruby looked at the selection and her eyes bulged out of her head. Fred simply smirked. "I told you they had good stuff here."

"These things are the size of my head!" Ruby gestured at the oversized cookies. "If size says how good they taste, they're amazing!" That got a hearty laugh from the people behind the counter.

"I don't think there's anything here that isn't good." Fred walked over to the counter. "Tell you what, you just got out of the hospital, I'll get you five of these things." Ruby's smile grew, then she turned back to the counter to pick different flavors out.

Fred's phone vibrated in his pocket, accompanied by his Avengers themed notification sound. He took out his phone and saw what the interruption was about. His heart dropped into his stomach. "Son of a…" he said, louder than he wanted to.

Ruby turned around from the counter. "What's going on?"

"Omaha's being attacked by Grimm." Fred opened his contacts to call a cousin that lived in the city. It took a few rings, but the call was answered. "Caleb, what's going on down there?"

 _"I don't know,"_ Caleb said over the phone. _"The tornado sirens went off, police started streaming toward downtown, TV and radio stations are telling everyone to stay inside, and to grab guns if you have 'em."_

"You're not in that area, are you?"

 _"No. It's more toward Omaha U. I was by the zoo when the warning went out. I'm home now and dad's got his rifle upstairs."_

Fred sighed in relief. Uncle Kevin was a soldier who served in Desert Storm. He wasn't particularly decorated or anything, but he knew his way around a rife. "You think you'll be safe there?"

 _"Hopefully, but then again, look what happened to Duluth."_ Fred nodded sadly. Duluth was one of the failed defenses against the Grimm. At first, the police and locals looked like they would be able to hold them back. Then the giant elephant came in. It must've been hundreds of feet tall, with dozens of large bony spikes all over its back, coal-black skin, and orange-red eyes.

Nothing the locals had could stop it. They were all forced to the long island between mainland Minnesota and Wisconsin, crammed in like sardines. It took an entire day, dozens of tanks and jets, and over a thousand infantry, all armed with high caliber weapons, just to take it down.

The mainland portion of the city was almost completely leveled, and the death toll was enormous; twenty-five-thousand people estimated dead. People had to be air- and boat-lifted off the island because the bridge connecting the island to the city had been destroyed.

After the disaster, the Air Force had fighters in the air over the entire country twenty-four-seven. Every place in the US could have at least one jet overhead in under an hour if needed. Everyone was on high alert, and Washington would be taking no chances. It was 9/11 all over again.

"That's the only elephant that's been seen so far. I think you'll be fine if that's what you're worried about."

 _"Dude, don't jinx me."_

"Just stay inside, and I can't believe I'm saying this, get out and get some Krispy Kreme when it's over."

 _"Don't have to tell me twice. I'll call back when this is all over."_ The line went dead and Fred returned the phone to his pocket.

"How far away is Omaha?" Ruby asked. Fred looked at the girl to see a surprising determination in her eyes. Her whole body was stiff and her fists clenched. She looked like she was ready to fight.

"A few hundred miles southwest of here. We're safe from that batch." Fred walked over the counter again. "I'll take one of the chocolate covered long johns, and I'm paying for her too." He pointed a thumb at Ruby.

"How are you not freaking out about this?" the girl asked.

"Like I said, Omaha's a few states away. There's no way the Grimm will make it here. It's not like I could do anything about it anyway." Fred grimaced. "Though I think most of the U.S. is going numb to these attacks, unless it's in their own state."

"…I guess I can understand that."

"That's the way the world is now." Fred payed for their food. Then he and Ruby sprinted back to his Camaro and got back on the road. A few miles down, Fred looked at the three boxy cases on Ruby's belt. "What's in those boxes anyway? Tablets? School supplies?"

Ruby grabbed one of the cases off her belt. "Two of them have .50 caliber Dust rounds of various types."

".50 caliber what?" Fred knew that .50 caliber bullets were huge, lethal, and illegal for civilian use in most states, even with the Grimm threat.

"Very large bullets." She smirked at the case.

Fred couldn't hold back a laugh. "Okay, if you don't want to tell me what's in there, you don't have to." Ruby opened up the case in response. A single massive, red bullet popped out the opening. Fred nearly lost control of his car when he saw it. "Uh, why do you have…what is that even, incendiary ammo?"

"Close. It's Burn Dust. Explodes and tends to start fires on impact." Ruby pushed the bullet back in and sealed the ammo magazine. "As to why, I may not look like it, but I fight Grimm. I'm fairly good at it too."

"I-I'm tempted to believe that. Where would you even get that kind of ammo?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Ruby sank farther into her seat.

"Try me." Fred would believe almost anything at that point.

Ruby looked down at her lap, then back at Fred. "I'm not exactly from Earth."

...Except for that. "Okay, you lost me." For the rest of the drive, Ruby told Fred about where she came from, a place called Vale, on a planet called Remnant. At first, Fred didn't believe what he was hearing. What she described shouldn't be possible. How would anything be powered by dust?

As Ruby went on though, the sheer length of her explanation gave her credibility. What she was saying couldn't be made up on the spot. There was also the fact that the hospital couldn't tell if she legally existed, and then there were the bullets that she carried nonchalantly.

As Fred took the exit that lead to Blaine, Ruby explained her team's mission before they got separated. "Then the bomb exploded. The next thing I remember is falling into a snowdrift in the forest."

Fred ran a hand over his face as he waited at a stoplight. "Let me get this straight. You're essentially training to become a mercenary, you fight the Grimm easily, you have superpowers, and you got here because of a bomb blowing up." He sighed. "This sounds like a bad fanfiction."

"I know, but it's the truth." Ruby sank into her seat. "I can show you Crescent Rose if it helps you believe me."

"No, that's fine." Fred pulled onto his street. Why had they let her keep a massive sniper rifle in the first place? "So about winter clothes, I'm sure my sister can take you to a J.C. Penney's or something tomorrow. I think I heard her say something about the Mall of America too."

"Thanks…" Ruby said sheepishly.

Fred pulled into his home's driveway and parked next to a car older than he was. As he turned the car off, he remembered one possibly very important piece of information that he should have said back in St. Cloud. "Uh... you're not allergic to cats, are you?"

Ruby perked up at that. "You've got a kitty?"

"A couple of month-old kittens to be precise."

"Aww!" Ruby's eyes practically sparkled. "They adopt them out that young here?"

"Not typically. One of my grandpas lives on a farm down south. He 'adopted' some stray cats, but didn't have them spayed or neutered. So now, we have kittens, and they're the friendliest little balls of fur you'll know."

"I want to see the kitties!" Ruby unbuckled and opened the door. "Ooh! It's still freezing out here!"

* * *

Summer Rose felt better than she had in years. She didn't care that she was in danger of being shot at any second, or the fact that she could cook an egg on her sword given the current temperature. Someone else from Remnant made it to Earth, and she was her baby girl's partner no less! There was also a good chance that Ruby was on Earth as well, given the circumstances.

At the same time, that last part terrified Summer. While Earth was far safer from Grimm compared to Remnant, there were several countries in the world that wouldn't exactly welcome foreigners with open arms. She was in one of them. Also, Ruby could very well be on her own. Weiss said that Ruby could take care of herself, that she was strong and capable, but Summer still worried about her daughter.

At the moment, her squad, plus Weiss, were going to investigate reports of Grimm a few miles west of Baghdad. At first, Summer's superiors didn't want Weiss anywhere but on a plane to Frankfurt or another safe city. After an impromptu sparring match though, Summer was able to convince them to allow Weiss to come along.

The heiress looked out of place in the back of the APC. She was the only one not wearing standard combat gear, though it was rather justified, given that Weiss was to short and small for anything else and her white skirt actually was her standard combat gear.

The only difference between her normal attire compared to now was the flat shoes Summer loaned her. Heels didn't exactly work in desert combat. The elder Huntress made it clear that if anyone made the girl feel uncomfortable, she would personally remove their manhood. No one even looked at Weiss after that threat.

Weiss herself didn't look that comfortable either, and it had nothing to do with her being in an APC with a bunch of soldiers. Summer wasn't exactly a mind reader, but she thought Weiss was either missing her friends, or more likely, she felt awkward spending time with her partner's supposedly dead mother.

"We have contact! Twelve o'clock!" Someone up front called. "Looks like a large group of Werewolves and a few Bears." Beowolves. Ursai.

"Alright ladies," Summer said, once again in mission mode, "form up on Jones when we get outside. And check your fire, some of us are going to get up close and personal."

"Sir! Yes, sir!" came the chorus of soldiers. Weiss just grabbed her rapier. The large machine gun on top of the APC started firing as the vehicle came to a halt. The back door opened and the soldiers quickly filed out. Weiss slowly followed them, leaving Summer to take up the rear.

Out in the desert heat, a horde of hundreds of Beowolves and a dozen large Ursai turned to look at the newcomers. The other members of Summer's squad rapidly fired at the Grimm, cutting down the front ranks rather quickly. Weiss stood behind the line of soldiers, then looked up at Summer. The older Huntress smiled and drew her own sword. It had been far too long since she'd taken Sun's Light out on a mission.

"Hold fire!" the squad leader called. The soldiers obeyed, though not without hesitation. "We're going to show you boys how Huntresses deal with monsters." Summer nodded at Weiss, then looked at a spot directly in front of the Grimm. She activated her Semblance, and she was there in an instant.

Immediately after she teleported, Summer started slashing through Grimm. At first, she met no resistance as she passed through their ranks, but after she was surrounded, the monsters started to lunge for her. Summer looked straight up in the air and teleported again. Now airborne, she switched Sun's Light to its sniper form and started shooting at the Grimm below her. The recoil on her weapon kept her in the air. It looked like the experimental gunpowder was working just fine.

As she was in the air, Summer saw Weiss also cutting through the Grimm. The girl used the distinctive Schnee family Glyph Semblance to great effect. Bouncing off of them, she sped around the Grimm, barely letting any of them touch her. One thing that was strikingly absent though was the summoning. The Schnee Family was always so proud of it, and used it whenever they could. Why wasn't Weiss doing so now? It would have made things much easier.

Summer was brought back into her own thoughts as she heard a click from her weapon. Out of ammo, she fell back to the ground. She flipped Sun's Light back into its sword form and stabbed it through the head of an Ursa Major. Back on the ground, Summer cut, slashed, and stabbed her way through many more Grimm.

As the last Beowolf fell and began dissolving away, Summer let her sword arm fall to her side. She hadn't had a good fight like that in years. She looked over at Weiss, who was panting and sweating up a storm. It had to be the heat more than anything. Schnees never did like the heat.

Suddenly, the sand shook beneath Summer. A few seconds later, an absolutely titanic Deathstalker burst out from beneath the desert. Both Huntresses fell into a defensive position. Then, a thought struck Summer. "Weiss, give me some speed." As she spoke, she flicked the switch for the third mode of Sun's Light. The whole blade started spinning around, faster and faster until it was a blur. Sure, she could only swing the now-buzz saw up and down, but that was all that was needed.

A large Glyph appeared under Summer's feet and a few more leading towards the Grimm. Summer ran faster than her ever had before, right at the monstrous arachnid. Instead of jumping to give herself the normal edge needed to kill the Grimm, she just plunged the saw in between the scorpion's eyes. The added speed was enough to completely break through and shatter the creature's bone mask. Once that was gone, the saw tore the monster's head in half.

Summer stopped her spinning blade, reformed it to its base mode and sheathed her sword. She turned around to face Weiss and smiled. "Piece o' cake."

Weiss just blinked. "Wow. Ruby fights a lot like you do."

The mention of her daughter made Summer smile even more. "I'll have to see for myself someday soon."

"Lieutenant!" One of the soldiers back by the APC yelled. "The Colonel says we need to get back to base as soon as possible."

"Alright then, ladies!" Summer yelled. "Load it back up. I want to be out of here in less than two mikes!" There was another round of 'Yes sir', then the squad filed back into the APC.

"How can you be so formal and so much like Ruby at the same time?" Weiss asked Summer as they walked back to the APC. "I always thought those two terms were contradictions of each other."

"Well, since you're going to Beacon, you obviously aren't the military type." Summer switched back to her friendly voice. "And since you're friends with Ruby, you can't be completely uptight."

"Hey!"

Summer smirked. "If Yang is anything like she was back before I left, I'm sure you get that kind of flack all the time."

"Everyday, practically." The two Huntresses entered the back of the APC and the hatch closed behind them.

"Hey, Weiss, was it?" Private Parker asked the girl. "That was... incredible, out there. Your drink's on me when we get back to base."

Weiss recoiled. "I'm only seventeen, you dolt!" Parker's face blanched, as did several others in the squad.

Summer narrowed her eyes and growled. "Parker. What did I say about losing your manhood?" No one spoke the rest of the way to the base. There wasn't even any after-mission banter. No one wanted to risk the wrath of Summer Rose.

The APC arrived at base and Summer walked to the command building with Weiss in tow. Even though she respected most of the soldiers around her, there were some among them who she wouldn't trust with a goldfish, much less Weiss' safety. As such, the heiress followed Summer almost everywhere, save the most classified meetings.

This apparently wasn't one of them. Summer met the Colonel outside her own office, which was very strange, given the man's typical by the book attitude. Then again, it was weird that Summer had an office in the first place. Summer saluted the man. "You wanted to see me, Colonel?"

"Yes, I did." He cast a glance at Weiss, then looked back at Summer. "Your friends in the FBI think they found some more of your people. They sent you an email with the identities of those they believe are from Remnant."

Summer blinked. "With all due respect sir, how did you know about this?"

The Colonel scowled. "They sent me an email saying that, depending on your findings, you may be headed back stateside a few weeks early. I don't know why you're so special. The Secretary of Defense himself signed the order."

"Ask my squad what Weiss here and I did to that Grimm horde. If there are others from Remnant, we need to have them on our side. Now if you'll please excuse us, Colonel." Summer walked past her superior and into her office.

As soon as the door closed behind Weiss and Summer and they heard footsteps leading away on the other side, the older Huntress let her current emotions be known. "Please be Ruby and Yang. Please be Ruby and Yang..." She quickly sat down behind her computer and worked to get to her e-mail. Sure enough, there was one from her former boss at the FBI titled '3 possibilities.'

Summer opened it up and the first thing she saw was a picture of a girl with black hair and a bow in her hair. "That's Blake!" Weiss practically yelled.

"Your fourth teammate?" Summer asked. Weiss nodded frantically. "Okay, looks like she's in Plano, Texas. She went to the police there saying that she's looking for the rest of your team." Summer tried not to let her eyes freeze on the names of her two daughters. "She also left the station before the FBI could offer her shelter. They don't know where she is now."

Summer scrolled down the e-mail to show a beautiful young woman with a staggering amount of blonde hair. Concerned lilac eyes shone in the police station image.

Aside from the color differences, Yang looked so much like her birth mother and Summer's teammate, Raven. "There you are, Little Sun Dragon." Summer felt tears form in her eyes. "New York, huh? I'm sure you'll love it there." She looked up where her step-daughter was staying, and let out a chuckle. It was the same apartment that she stayed in during her last months with the Bureau.

"She does like downtown Vale," Weiss admitted.

"Sorry kid, but Vale ain't got nothing on The Big Apple." Summer scrolled down more until the name 'Ruby Rose' was at the bottom of the screen. Her throat clenched up, and she could barely breath. She scrolled down one tick more, and the words 'hospital record' appeared.

Summer's heart dropped into her stomach. _My Ruby? In the hospital?_ She scrolled down more to see the full story. A picture of an unconscious Ruby with a large cut on her head appeared on screen. Summer covered her gaping mouth with a hand and tears streaked from her eyes.

"Oh my god," Weiss breathed. "What happened?"

Summer read the report out loud. "Ruby was picked up on the side of Interstate 94 by Fred Olson and Natalie Landry. She was treated for hypothermia and head trauma at St. Cloud hospital. Released at 3:00 PM local time yesterday to…Fred Olson?" One of her eyes twitched and she scrolled down even more. A picture of the two leaving the hospital together showed up, Ruby walking under her own power, and both looking like they wanted to be anywhere else.

"Who is this guy?" Luckily, her former boss answered that question for her. Fred was a junior at North Dakota State University, majoring in emergency management and minoring in music. He had no criminal history whatsoever, not even a speeding ticket. His family showed much of the same, and hefty charity work from every one of them. On the surface they looked fine, but what were they like in the dark?

Then Summer read the words 'under surveillance.' If anything could have calmed her racing heart, it was that. Whoever this person was, he wasn't going to so much as look at Ruby funny without the FBI knowing about it. Summer laid her head down on her keyboard and let her tears of relief flow. She couldn't control herself and started sobbing. She then looked skyward. _Thank you! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!_

* * *

 **"This sounds like a bad fanfiction." Fred would be good at fanfiction sins (ding!)**

 **Yes, I know Ruby has Zwei, but I can really see her enjoying being cuddled and licked to death by a couple of kittens.**


	4. Heroes

**A bit of a language warning for the beginning of this chapter. Also, sorry this one got uploaded several days late, but I have a good reason. Since the last chapter was uploaded, I got a beta reader for this story, who goes by the name of Recycler. He's gone over the first three chapters and helped the story flow better and flat out read better.  
**

* * *

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Taiyang Xiao Long slammed a fist down onto Ozpin's desk. "After what happened to Summer, to my _wife_ , you sent the rest of my family after them?"

For once, Headmaster Ozpin's coffee mug was nowhere near him. He took a deep breath. "You must understand," he said calmly, "I sent Team RWBY on a mission to reactivate various control centers in the Emerald Forest. There was no indication beforehand that Merlot Industries was involved. Doctor Oobleck and Professor Port are currently under investigation as to why they would let a first year team search for an organization such as that."

"That didn't stop you from sending my girls after the White Fang two weeks ago." Taiyang glared at Ozpin.

The headmaster took the glare with his calm demeanor. "I don't know the details, but Team RWBY found out of a hideout in Mountain Glen. They would have found a way there eventually. It was better to send them with a pair of professional Huntsman."

"Yeah, and that same pair just left them to die!"

"Tai, you gotta calm down," a voice said from behind Taiyang.

He turned around to face Qrow, who for once wasn't drunk out of his mind. "Calm down? How the fuck can I be calm? My daughters, your nieces, were just sent after the same people that killed Summer and their line with Oobleck went dead after he heard a massive explosion that probably…" Taiyang's words caught in his throat.

"This is what I'm talking about." Qrow shook his head. "You're jumping to conclusions. The explosion could very well have knocked out their communications. They're just missing in action. There's no way to know for sure until the excavation team gets there. You have to have hope."

"Hope?" Taiyang scoffed. "That all dried up when Summer never came home."

"There was nothing ever found of hers. She could still be out there."

"After more than a decade? If you really believe that, why do you drink?"

Qrow hesitated. "In a nutshell I have two sisters missing in action. Losing Summer and Raven so close to each other took its toll." Taiyang glared at Qrow. He knew the man knew damn well where his sister was. Why wouldn't he admit it? And how did that compare with him losing his wife?

"I have a proposition for you both," Ozpin spoke up. Taiyang turned to face the headmaster. "We have gathered some evidence from the control centers as to the whereabouts of those who sabotaged them. There is enough there to arrest several high ranking members. I am sure we can also get search warrants for their records, to bring them to justice, and to find out just what happened to your daughters."

Taiyang thought it over. Naturally, he wanted to say yes. He wanted payback for all the pain those people brought him and his family. At the same time though, no one who he lost would want him to go on a revenge mission. Well, Raven might, but she was a different story altogether.

Then there was what Qrow said, that his family could still be alive. Taiyang turned back to face his partner. "You with me on this?"

Qrow nodded. "Until we find the answers we're looking for."

Taiyang turned back to Ozpin. "Where do we start?"

* * *

Ruby sat at the Olson family table, devouring a bowl of cereal. Surprisingly, the whole family welcomed her in with open arms, one of them rather literally. Rachel, Fred's older sister, was evidently a hugger. Even though she was nearly ten years older than Ruby, they were the same height.

Then there were the two resident felines Tigger and Eleven. When asked why they named a cat after a number, Fred said that the white spot on his chest looks like a bowtie, and apparently, 'bowties are cool.' That just confused Ruby even more.

Something kind of heavy fell into Ruby's lap. She looked down and saw the black and white Eleven looking up at her. The kitten meowed and cocked his head. "He want's the milk from your cereal," Mrs. Olson said from across the table, smirking over her book. "He won't leave you alone till you give him something."

"I'm sorry buddy," Ruby locked eyes with the kitten, "I drink it all. There's none left for you." Eleven just cocked his head to the other side and meowed again. Dang it. Why do baby anythings have to be so cute?

Mrs. Olson laughed. "There's always something that doesn't come out of these bowls. Just give him what's left." Eleven meowed again to accent the statement. Ruby sighed, gulped down the cereal left in the bowl, and set it on the floor. Eleven hopped off Ruby's lap and started cleaning out the milky residue.

"Hey, Ruby?" Fred called from another room, "I think there's something on TV that you'd want to see." Ruby walked over to the Olson's living room and sat down on a couch. The words 'Grimm Activity' filled the TV screen.

The words disappeared to be replaced by Earth's equivalent of Hound News, Fox News. "We have two Grimm engagements in the past twenty-four hours to cover here. The first occurred in Omaha, Nebraska in the mid afternoon yesterday. Police reports state that this attack was mainly Werewolves and Dinos.

"The epicenter appeared to be in or near University of Nebraska, Omaha. Luckily, classes ended last week for Christmas Break and most students and faculty were not on campus." While the woman talked, video played showing police and civilians alike taking cover behind cars and buildings and firing at something off screen.

"This appears to be one of the most successful defenses against the Grimm to date in the US. All threats were eliminated before National Guard units could show up. Omaha's police chief has released a statement saying that of the seventy-seven defenders, only fifteen were seriously injured, and no deaths have been reported. The death toll for civilians is also very low. Even though numbers are still coming in from area hospitals, the death toll is not expected to break triple digits."

Fred whistled. "Could have used some of that new gunpowder and bullets in Duluth. Maybe then that Elephant wouldn't have destroyed the city."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Ruby said. "Goliaths are extremely hard to take down. I've done some research into them, and apparently they just shrug off small arms fire, even if they're high-quality Dust Rounds, and even with high-caliber autocannons like the ones found on airships, the REALLY big ones are still somewhat resistant to them."

"What…Oh. Yeah." Fred ran a hand over his face. "I'm still having a hard time believing you're from another planet."

"I don't blame you. I'm still trying to figure it out."

"The other engagement," the woman on TV continued, "occurred about six miles west of Baghdad. A drone flying over the area spotted a Grimm nest, and a squad from the US Army was dispatched to clear them out.

"At this time, it is unclear why an airstrike wasn't used there like in Branson, Missouri. No members of the squad were injured and the nest was dispatched, in the words of the officer in command, 'with ease.'"

"For once, it sounds like we're actually winning." Fred leaned back in his chair.

"That's new to me too." Ruby wondered how a single squad of non-Huntsmen could take on a Grimm nest. It usually took normal Atlas soldiers several hours to do that, and not without casualties. For a world who had only recently encountered Grimm at all, they were doing remarkably well against them.

"Now as we move onto world news, a BBC reporter talks about his rescue from a terrorist prison in northern Iraq."

"I've been wondering about this." Fred once again leaned forward and glued his eyes to the screen.

"I think I heard about this in the hospital." Ruby watched the TV somewhat intently.

The apparent reporter started off by saying how he was captured and treated while in captivity. The person interviewing him asked a few questions about the terrorists, and his answers made Ruby shiver slightly.

"This is where I might lose some of you," The reporter said. "That had to be the strangest rescue since that FBI agent on 9/11. A teenage girl, dressed in a white and holding a sword of some kind. I swear, the handle looked like it had a revolver built into it."

Ruby's eyes widened slightly and she inched forward in her seat. She knew only one person that fit that description. _Weiss?_

"She pointed her sword at the lock on the door, and…I don't know what came out of it, but it melted the lock. After that, there were gunshots out in the hallway, and the girl faced the door to the prison. One of the terrorists came into the room and she impaled him faster than I could blink."

Ruby covered her mouth to hold back a gasp. _Please **don't** be Weiss…_

"Then the Americans came in. One of them threw a flashbang into the room, and the girl dove onto it, probably thinking it was an actual grenade. It saved my eyes, though not my hearing. From there, we were loaded onto some sort of truck and taken out of there."

"Do you think this girl could be one of the supposed super-powered agents that the FBI, MI6, and other organizations are rumored to have?" The interviewer asked.

"If the rumors are true, then yes. But who would send a teenager girl out into terrorist country? If she is American like she claimed to be, I'm worried about what America is doing even more."

"Uh, Ruby?" Fred snapped Ruby out of her trance. "You might want to pick your jaw up off the floor."

"Sorry. It's just…" Ruby looked at her lap, "the girl that guy described sounded like my partner."

"Oh…wait a second. If you ended up by St. Cloud, how did she make it to Iraq?"

"Don't ask me…Did Rachel say what time she wanted to go to the mall?" Ruby wanted to change the subject to get her mind off of such heavy topics.

"I think she said around 10:15, so that roughly translates to 10:45." Ruby failed to keep in a snort. Yang was like that sometimes too.

Just as Fred predicted, Rachel wasn't ready to go until nearly half an hour after the agreed time. When she finally was, she and Ruby loaded into her ancient car. Once, long ago, it might have been a sports car, but time wasn't friendly to the vehicle. "This car's older than me, isn't it?"

"It's a '92," Rachel said as she threw her car into reverse. "Believe it or not, Fred had a '91 before he won that contest. I need an upgrade at some point, but the engine, heating, and cooling still work, so I'll stick with it for now." She straightened out on the street, then drove down the road.

"Alright. By the way, what's 'Ipbizon'?" Ruby referenced Fred's license plate.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "The first two letters are an acronym for 'it's pronounced,' then 'bizon,' so together it makes 'it's pronounced bizon."

"Why would he put that on a license plate?"

"The bison's his college mascot. They're very defensive about it, though it is technically correct."

"Oh." Ruby made a mental note to remember that in case she ever ran into any bison Faunus. During the first part of the ride, the two of them made small talk. Well, as much as Ruby could considering that she had no idea what Rachel was talking about half the time.

Then a city skyline came into view. Ruby leaned forward to get a better look. "Whoa."

Rachel smirked. "Fred said you weren't exactly from around here. That's Minneapolis. It's no New York City or Chicago, but it's ours, and the most impressive skyline between here and Seattle. St. Paul? Who cares about St. Paul?"

"This place looks bigger than Vale." Just by building size alone, Minneapolis looked bigger. Then there was the fact that there were more skyscrapers in front of her than in Vale. Though, Vale was more of a sprawling city than a centralized one. "How many people live here?"

"Minneapolis itself, I believe, is somewhere around four-hundred thousand. The cities and the suburbs, I want to say somewhere around three-and-a-half-million."

"Definitely bigger than Vale." Ruby watched the buildings get even bigger. Sure, Atlas' skyline was probably more impressive, but she'd never been there. Even though she grew up in the rural area of Patch, she always liked visiting and looking at big cities, though not as much as Weiss did.

Ruby looked to her right and saw something weird through the trees. "Why is there a giant cherry on a spoon?"

Rachel laughed. "Because why not? I'm sure there's some meaning behind it, but I have no idea what it is." The car passed into a tunnel.

"As good a reason as any I guess." Ruby turned back to Rachel. "So how far away… Uh, what are you doing?" Rachel's cheeks were puffed up to comical levels as if she was holding her breath.

With a large puff of air, Rachel let her breath go. "Sorry, force of habit."

Ruby snorted. "That's a thing here too?"

"I think it's a thing everywhere." For most of the rest of the trip, the two of them listened to the radio, with Ruby looking out the back window at the massive city. When the towers were finally out of sight, she looked to the sky and saw several unfamiliar airships flying low and fast. When asked, Rachel said there was an airport right next to the mall.

A few minutes later, the mall itself came into view. From the outside, the building didn't look like any in Vale. For one, it was absolutely enormous. Probably a quarter the size of Beacon's main building. Secondly, except for the massive sign on the front, there wasn't anything too special looking about it. The façade was two shades of tan, and was essentially just a flat wall.

"I haven't been here in a while," Rachel commented. "Last time I was here, the west parking ramp was still up."

Ruby looked at where they were driving. "Another one of these things?"

"Yeah, and I thought finding a parking spot was hard before." After a few minutes of driving through the various levels of the parking ramp, Rachel finally found a spot a long way from any of the entrances. At least they were covered and the wind wasn't too bad in the ramp.

When Ruby entered the mall, her opinion that the place was dull and bland changed instantly. On the inside, it looked like the malls around Vale, even if it was magnitudes bigger. Also, there was something in the center of the hallway that had her interest. "There's an aquarium in here?"

"This place isn't just about shopping. There's also a movie theater, mini golf, a few VR things, and a theme park." Rachel sighed. "Still disappointed it's Nickelodeon now. Camp Snoopy for life."

"Theme park?" Ruby perked up. "Any roller coasters?"

"Only three worth mentioning: Pepsi Ripsaw, SpongeBob, and Avatar."

A smile broke out on Ruby's face, then quickly disappeared. She didn't have any money of her own, and was completely living off the goodwill of the Olsons. Still, it couldn't hurt to try. "When we're done, would it be okay to try them out?" She rubbed the back of her neck.

"Seriously? I can't stop here without doing that! Glad to know you're a coaster head. It's probably better if we ride first though. No bags to carry around then."

Ruby pumped a fist. "Yes!" She followed Rachel through the mall toward the center. The whole place was packed to the brim with people. Apparently, Christmas was a few days away. Ruby was surprised they had the same holiday on Earth as Remnant, for the same reason too.

Suddenly, up ahead, Ruby heard glass break and someone scream. On the floor she stood on, several people ran from what looked like falling shards of glass. Others looked up and aimed their scrolls…er, cell phones…up through the levels. Ruby ran past the bridge that blocked her view.

She froze in place when she saw what the commotion was about. A teenager was hanging off the fourth floor where a railing should have been. The metal frame dangled precariously beneath the floor, threatening those below. There were a few girls up there trying to help their friend, but they didn't look like they were making much progress.

Ruby looked around her floor for options. A solid looking comic stand sat in the center of the hall. It was too tall to jump up to normally, but there was also a car on display right by it. She could use that to get up to the stand. Right by the dangling girl, a concrete pillar ran from the floor to the ceiling. She'd have to time it exactly right, or else that girl would be a pancake on the floor.

"You're slipping!" one of the girls on solid ground said. People rushed to help the teenager, but there was no way they'd make it in time.

Ruby moved to what she thought would be a good starting position.

"Ruby, what are you doing?" Rachel asked, almost calmly. Ruby ignored her and focused on the other teen.

The girl's fingers slipped off the ledge and Ruby took action. She activated her Semblance and jumped from the car to the comic stand. She kicked off as hard as she could toward the pillar. Her inertia kept her plastered on the pillar for enough time to gauge the girl's speed.

When the time was right, Ruby jumped off the pillar and grabbed the girl in the air.

The extra weight threw off her landing, though. She still landed on the third floor, but on her back. Ruby and the former falling girl slid across the smooth floor and into another solid wall, with Ruby taking the brunt of the impact. The force knocked the wind out of her, but the girl she held in her arms was shaking with shock, meaning she was still alive.

Ruby pulled her arms back and tried to catch her breath. The person she rescued pushed herself off Ruby and looked around. She ran over to a still intact railing and looked down, then up. After a few seconds she turned back to Ruby. "How did you do that?"

The Huntress-in-training pushed herself off the floor and took a few deep breaths. The girl then looked up and smirked. "My little secret. You okay?"

"Yeah," the other girl said after looking herself over. "Thank you," she said gratefully. She ran off toward an escalator leading back up to the fourth floor to get back to her friends.

Another bystander helped Ruby off the floor. "Are you okay?" the man asked.

"I'm fine." Ruby brushed her hood off. "I've taken worse hits than that." She also walked toward the escalators, but took the one heading down.

Rachel stood at the bottom. Her eyes were wide and her mouth hung open. "How…how did you do that?"

"Fred told you where I'm from right? Well, a lot of us have 'super-powers', as he called them." Ruby put on a smile, then looked at the crowd of people. Most of them were either openly staring at Ruby with open mouths, others had their phones trained on Ruby. That rather quickly killed her good mood. "Let's get out of here. I really don't like people staring at me."

Rachel nodded, then turned and walked back the way they came in. "Well, we passed the entrance to the theme park anyway." She winced. "And about people staring at you, did you see how many people were recording? I have a feeling you'll be on national news in less than an hour."

Ruby looked at the ground. She didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. For one, if her team was in the U.S., they'd be more likely to find her. On the other hand, she would be the center of attention for a long time. She was never good in front of crowds.

They were just about to enter the theme park when a voice called out from behind Ruby. "Hey!" She turned around and saw a police officer running up to her. "I'm going to have to ask you to come with me and answer a few questions."

"Is this about what happened back there, officer?" Rachel asked.

The policeman turned to Rachel. "It's not everyday that someone is saved from falling to their death by The Flash, kid."

Ruby nodded. She knew how these things were supposed to work. "She'll have to stay too." She gestured to Rachel. "She's kind of my ride."

"Okay, then. Follow me, please." The officer turned around and lead Ruby and Rachel to a slightly less crowded section of the mall.

* * *

Yang looked out the window at the beautiful city around her. She didn't know why the FBI set her up in such a nice apartment with a view of the city. Apparently, it had previously belonged to an agent named Clara Flowers, who was also from Remnant. But that didn't explain why Clara wasn't around, why there weren't any pictures on the wall, or why the FBI got Yang her own driver's license and a credit card that ran off government funds.

She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that she was no longer on Remnant. How was that even possible? A bomb exploded and it should have killed her. Instead, she got transported to Earth.

It could have been worse. Yang could have ended up in the Middle East, or the middle of one of Earth's vast oceans. New York City was beautiful and huge. She visited the Statue of Liberty the day before, and could even see it from where she stood now.

Weiss would go absolutely nuts walking up and down Broadway (after she finished wrapping her head around the idea of a city larger and more spectacular than Atlas). Ruby would go crazy for all the bakeries and chocolate shops around.

Those last thoughts made a knot form in Yang's stomach. She had no idea where her team was, if they were on Earth, or…safe back at Beacon. They couldn't be dead. Especially not Ruby. She could outrun a racecar with her Semblance if she wanted to. She could've easily escaped that explosion.

Yang turned away from the window and sat on her bed. She turned on the TV and flipped through the channels. Why virtually every show, movie, and advertisement seemed to be a knockoff of more familiar products and series, she could only guess.

After getting bored after the third episode of NCIS, Yang switched to the first news station she could find. She couldn't believe she was doing that, and just as she was about to turn the channel, a breaking news graphic covered the screen. Curious, Yang actually payed attention.

"A potential tragedy at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota was averted by a fifteen-year-old girl," the anchorman said. "Just after noon local time, railing on the fourth floor of the mall broke loose when another teenage girl leaned on it.

"The metal support frame hung underneath the third floor and the glass underneath shattered. This next part you have to see to believe. We've had several videos sent to us regarding this incident."

The screen showed a teenage girl hanging off a ledge. A few other girls were trying to pull her up, but it didn't appear to be working. "You're slipping!" one of the girls still standing yelled. A few seconds later the girl slipped.

Out of nowhere, a red streak flashed across the screen It barreled past the camera, which slowly turned around.

Yang gasped and covered her mouth. Ruby! Her little sister was lying on the ground with another girl in her arms. Back at Beacon, Yang would have given Ruby a hard time over her being in a similar position, but this wasn't a normal situation.

The other girl got off Ruby and ran to the railing. Due to what looked like editing, the screen then showed Ruby walking off down the hall. The anchor talked over the scene. "No one was injured in this event, and the names of both girls are unknown. The Mall of America is currently investigating why the railing failed to prevent another potential tragedy."

Yang tuned the rest out as she ran to the laptop that the FBI provided. She immediately typed 'Mall of America' into the search bar. Once the results came up, she chose the map option. Her shoulders slumped when she saw Minnesota was quite literally halfway across the country, twelve-hundred miles away.

Still determined to find and get back to her sister, and pulled out her 'phone' and called her contact in the FBI. If Yang needed anything out of the ordinary, she was told to call in. After two rings, her contact picked up. _"What can I do for you, Miss Xiao Long?"_

"I need a way to get to Minnesota and I need to get there yesterday!"

There was a pause on the other end. _"Why the sudden urgency, ma'am?"_

"Because I just saw my little sister on TV, literally jumping off walls to save someone from falling in the Mall of America."

Another pause. "We have known your sister's location for a few days now, ma'am." Yang stiffened up. She blinked and a red haze tugged at the edges of her vision. They KNEW where Ruby was, and they had the utter gall not even to tell her, letting her worry that she was dead?!

Before she could give her contact a piece of her mind though, her contact spoke again. _"You already have a plane ticket to Minneapolis, St. Paul International in the morning. A car will be waiting to pick you up at 6:00 AM. I suggest that you be ready before then. We would have gotten you there earlier, but it's difficult for us to find an open plane seats this time of year, what with the holidays and all."_

Yang closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you." Another thought came to her head. "You knew about Ruby, but what about Weiss and Blake?"

 _"A person matching Blake's description entered a Texas police station, reporting missing friends. She left before we could get a hold of her. Weiss is confirmed to be in Iraq, and is under the supervision of Lieutenant Clara Flowers."_

"Wait, I thought she was with you guys?"

 _"She was, but her circumstances are…unusual. I'm sure you can understand."_

Yang sighed. "When should I be with my sister tomorrow?"

 _"Depending on traffic and weather, your plane should touch down around one o'clock local time, and another hour to where she's staying. After that, the decision of where you go rests on Flowers. She might want you to stay there, or she might want you back where you are now. We won't know for sure until she lands in Germany, I'm afraid."_

"Okay…I'll be ready. See you then, or whoever it is I'm meeting." The line went dead without a proper goodbye. Rude. Yang put her phone back in her pocket and laid back on her bed. In less than twenty-four hours, she was going to be back with her sister.

They'd only been separated for a few days, but it felt like so much longer. Up until the past five minutes, Yang didn't even know if the rest of her team was on Earth, or alive. Now that she knew they all were, she could breathe a little easier.

Apparently the FBI had things under control, but that didn't exactly mean that was a good thing. They had to want something. Why else would they put Yang in a nice apartment, even if 'Clara Flowers' was an agent? Probably had something to do with the Grimm.

Until that happened though, Yang decided it would probably be better concentrating on the fact that she would be back with Ruby soon. Who knows what she went through up until that point?

* * *

 **To any of my fellow Minnesotan readers, I'm sorry for the terrible description of the mega mall. I haven't been there since the Mighty Axe was still standing. Yes, I do mean Mighty Axe, not that themed name change.**


	5. Going for Gold

**Starting this one off slightly different. See how many people get what this is before the title's mentioned.  
**

* * *

" _We ready to start this thing?"_ Caleb asked over the Discord chat.

" _My forces are ready,"_ Fred replied. _"They haven't seen battle since we finished off America five hundred years ago."_

Ruby looked at the placement of her units. Unless the boarders of Moscow grew that turn, she would have three rocket artillery in range with two modern armor and three mechanized infantries ready to swoop in. "I'm ready to go. Russia will fall this day! Or however the timing works in this game!"

" _At this point in the game, it's more like a few months,"_ Fred stated. He reportedly had a naval invasion ready to go on the east coast of the Russian/Mayan continent. Caleb used one of his city-state allies to land armor and artillery near Novgorod on the north side. He said he had a carrier off the coast with several bombers and jet fighters to take out the city and surrounding units.

" _Ruby, how much are you committing to this?"_ Caleb asked.

"A relatively land force, and all my air force in Patch and Beacon. Take a look." Ruby smirked and waited for Caleb's reaction.

After a few seconds pause, she got the reaction she wanted. _"Dude! How many nukes do you need?"_

"Thinking about buying three more. That'll make an even ten."

" _How the heck do you have so much uranium?"_ Fred laughed. _"You're not Russia."_

"I went down patronage and bought out every city-state with uranium. Oh, and my ideology."

" _You have a point there. I've never seen so many of them with Uranium."_ Ruby smirked. With her large stockpile of gold from almost never spending it through the game (because she didn't know it was a mechanic), she could still buy those extra three, but she actually had nine nukes ready to go. Two of them were sitting on nuclear submarines, one off the German capital of Fargo, one the Brazilian capital of Taco.

The truth was, Ruby was two turns away from winning the game. Patch was about to produce the last space ship part, and the rest were along railroads leading into the city. They were all out of vision range of any spies or diplomats, and all could get to the city in one turn. The only thing known to the world was that she had the Apollo program built.

Before she won and her people went to space though, Ruby wanted to watch the world burn.

The next turn started to load. _"Catherine!"_ Caleb practically shouted. _"You have been a thorn in the side of the world for too long. You wiped India off the map, left London as a city-state, and took over half of America. Your crimes can't go unpunished. From this point on, you are at war with the Maya, Germany, and Brazil!"_

When Caleb finished his speech, Ruby launched the first nuke at Moscow. She didn't really know what to expect from the missile. Fred said through the in game chat window that they were powerful ranged weapons that could decimate a city and surrounding units. However, Ruby didn't expect half the city's population to die off and the city health to drop a similar amount. _If only Remnant had these things,_ Ruby thought. _Maybe we'd actually stand a chance against the Grimm._

Ruby launched another nuke for good measure, and the few enemies her units could see disappeared. For whatever reason, some of the tiles glowed orange. It didn't look like it prevented her units for 'standing' on it, so she proceeded with her attack. She moved one modern armor up next to the city to get range for her artillery, and rained missiles down on the already devastated city. After Moscow was low in the red, the single modern armor moved in to take the city.

Not willing to take the happiness hit, and to look like she was still playing the long game, Ruby simply puppeted the city. She quickly looked over the city to see what wonders she gained, not that it would matter.

She then looked at the rest of the Russian empire. Novgorod fell to Caleb, and another place which Ruby could hope to pronounce was falling to Fred's Navy. Ruby looked back at her capital. She still had five nukes sitting around, and the now Russian city of New York hadn't been touched since it was conquered. Why waste all that firepower?

For the rest of that timed turn, Ruby launched all five nukes at the city. After the last one calculated, the city completely disappeared. "Uh, I think I broke the game," Ruby confessed. "I think I nuked New York too much."

" _What are you talking about?"_ Fred asked. Just as Ruby was about to explain, he practically exploded over the chat. _"Cheese and crackers Ruby! How many nukes did you launch?"_

"Five."

" _Don't let the FBI know,"_ Caleb joked. _"Still, why'd you waste so many nukes on one city?"_

The next turn loaded and the space ship cockpit appeared in Patch. "Because I'm about to win this game!" She quickly moved to her two submarines and launched both remaining nukes. The substantial air force in Fargo disappeared completely and Taco lost a nuke Caleb had been sitting on for a long time.

" _Gosh dangit Ruby!"_ Fred actually yelled. Ruby actually heard the guy through her headset and a few walls.

Not waiting for retribution to come, Ruby quickly moved all parts into the city, adding them to the space ship one by one. Soon after the victory screen came up. Ruby pumped a fist. "Boo ya! Not bad for a first timer, huh?"

" _H-how?"_ was all Caleb managed to say.

" _Better question,"_ Fred started. _"How did we go a full game without crashing?"_

"I take it this game's unstable in multiplayer?" Ruby asked as she scanned through post game graphs.

" _The trombones up at school have tried to play a few games, we never got past turn one-fifty."_

"That's not even halfway through the game!"

" _Civ VI is supposed to be better," Caleb started, "but the Yogscast is saying otherwise."_

" _Hey Caleb, I just got a message from Kyle. He said he's going to be on in a few minutes. You up for some Left 4 Dead?"_

" _If there's four people available, I'm always ready for zombie killing."_

" _Half-hour lunch break?"_

"Sounds good to me." Ruby closed out of her game and took her headset off. It was so nice of Fred to lend her his old system. While it would have been considered a potato back on Remnant, and was apparently on the edge here, it was good enough to run decent games a few years old.

There was a knock on the door to her borrowed room. "We've got some frozen pizzas in the basement." Fred said. "You want one? We've got time."

"Sounds good to me." Ruby stood up from her chair and stretched her stiff legs. She looked down at herself to see if she was presentable and shrugged. Everyone else in the house that was home wore their pajamas anyway. She checked the clock as she opened her door. "Two-thirty? We were playing for four and a half hours?"

"That's what Civ does to ya." Fred shook his head and started walking. "Still, it's easier to get out of Civ than Stellaris. That was the first game a played until six in the morning, and I had class at eight."

Ruby snorted. "That addicting?"

"Pretty much." The two walked down stairs to the main level. "There's extra cheese and pepperoni in the fridge if you want it."

"Thanks. What does the oven need to be set to?"

"Four fifty. Fifty-five if you like it extra crispy." Fred walked to another part of the level that lead to the basement. Ruby set the oven then raided the fridge for the extra toppings. Even though she was only in the house for two days, she felt that she was actually welcomed here. Everyone in the house treated her like an old friend, or tried to anyway. The kitties absolutely loved her. Eleven meowed outside her door last night until she opened it up. When she woke up, she had two kittens sleeping on her bed with her.

Fred returned to the kitchen with two Jack's pizzas. Before he could get them onto their pans though, the doorbell rang. He practically growled. "I swear, if that's another reporter…"

Ruby's head sunk between her shoulders. Ever since she was released by MOA police, she was followed by reporters. Rachel tried to lose them on the freeway and backroads, but one of them apparently was able to follow. It took Mr. Olson threatening to call the police if the reporter didn't leave.

While Ruby prepped her own pizza she listened to the conversation at the front door. "Can I help you?" Fred asked.

After a few seconds passed, "Is...Ruby here?"

Ruby's head shot up and she dropped the cheese bag. She'd know that voice anywhere.

Apparently Fred put some pieces together too. "Wait a second, aren't you-"

"Yang!" Ruby ran out of the kitchen, accidentally checked Fred into the wall, opened the front door screen door, and launched herself at her sister. Yang staggered back a few steps as she hugged back. "I missed you."

"You had me worried sick." Yang tightened her grip on her sister. "I didn't know where you were, if you were even here."

Ruby stiffened up slightly. "Weiss and Blake?"

"They aren't with me, but I kind of know where they are." Yang pulled back and smiled at Ruby. That quickly disappeared as she looked her sister up and down. "Uh, you're outside in your pajamas when it's below freezing."

A cold breeze and a few loose snowflakes accented her point. Ruby wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. "You had to say it didn't you. Come inside." She quickly opened the door and stepped inside. A grunting noise came from down and to the right. Ruby looked down and saw Fred rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry about that." She grabbed one of Fred's arms and pulled him to his feet.

"Man, for a small one, you hit hard." Fred rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm going to feel that for a while."

"And who exactly are you?" Yang asked icily. Ruby turned to her big sister. Yang's eyes weren't red, but she was definitely in her 'protective big sister mode.'

"Yang, he's okay." Ruby put herself between Yang and Fred. "He, uh, kind of saved me from freezing to death on the side of the interstate."

"What?" Yang was still in her big sister mode, but the exact opposite side of the spectrum. She put her hand on Ruby's forehead and looked her sister up and down. "What happened? When did it happen?"

"Well, I ended up in a forest right after the bomb exploded. It was late at night and in blizzard. Burn Dust rounds couldn't heat me up and my Aura drained fast. I passed out on the side of the interstate and woke up in a hospital."

Yang looked up at Fred. "How do you fit into this?" Her tone was only slightly accusing.

Fred held his hands above his head. "Like Ruby said, a cousin and I picked her up on the side of I-94 and took her to the hospital. A few days later, I got a call from the hospital and was told that either I gave her shelter here or she goes to an orphanage in St. Cloud. With all due respect to the people who run those places, they aren't the best places to stay."

"Uh huh." Yang nodded slowly. She turned back to Ruby. "But why did they send you here? I got put in a nice apartment in New York City and got a driver's license and credit card. You get any of that?"

Ruby shook her head. "None."

"It could be because she's too young to live on her own," Fred offered.

"I'm seventeen for a few more months," Yang countered. "If the legal adult age is the same as it is in Vale, I'm too young."

"You got me there." Fred ran a hand through his hair. "New York is a lot scarier than here though."

Yang sighed. "I guess the place they put me does belong to an FBI agent. They still could have done the same for you though." She put a hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"It's the government." Ruby shrugged. "Since when do they make sense?"

"Apparently that's universal." Fred chuckled, then his eyes snapped over to the kitchen. "Tigger! Eleven! No!" He stormed past the girls into the kitchen.

Ruby looked for the two kittens and saw they were looking at a still open bag of shredded cheese on the floor. "My bad," Ruby said while rubbing the back of her neck. The two cats walked away from the food with their tails held high. Tigger walked up to Ruby and placed his front paws on one of the girl's feet. Ruby bent down and picked the kitten up and brought Tigger to her shoulder.

"Looks like you made a friend," Yang joked.

Ruby smirked. "So did you."

Yang suddenly looked down. Eleven was climbing up her pant leg. "Cat's actually do this?"

"Please don't make a Blake joke." Ruby rubbed the underside of Tigger's chin. "So where are you staying now?"

Eleven finally made it up to Yang's shoulder and pressed his face against the blonde's. "The FBI's got me a hotel room a few miles away. It's no apartment with a view, but it's warm and has TV. There's another bed in there if you're interested."

"Pardon me for interrupting," another voice said. Ruby turned to it and saw Mrs. Olson standing in a doorway. "The guest bedroom is empty, and I'm sure that bed is more comfortable than a hotel one."

"Thanks for the offer ma'am," Yang started, "but I don't want to intrude."

Ruby tugged on Yang's arm. "Yang, they're good people. They took me in, and they've kept reporters off my back after what I did at the mall."

"Wait, reporters are after you?" Yang looked outside a nearby window.

"One of them followed me back here, and wouldn't leave until Mr. Olson threatened to call the police." Ruby rubbed the back of her neck with her other hand, nearly knocking the cat off his perch. "Also, I've kind of been temporarily invited into Fred's gamer group. Apparently we're starting a match of Left 4 Dead in a few minutes. Apparently it's like Grimm Future, and you know that's a good one."

"Yeah, I do." Yang stared outside for a few more seconds, then turned back to Mrs. Olson. "I think I'll actually take you up on your offer, if it's okay with my ride. Don't want to make the FBI mad." She gently picked Eleven off her shoulder and set the kitten on the floor. Then she walked out the door, most likely to tell whoever was with her what was going on, leaving Ruby in the best mood she had since being selected for their last mission.

* * *

Weiss lazily flipped through the channels on an ancient looking TV set. Of course, it probably wasn't, considering the rest of the hotel looked fairly new. Summer said there should be some channels in Vytalian, but the rest were in German. Eventually, she found a news station which she understood, which suited her just fine. The people on it sounded like that one guy she helped rescue back in Iraq.

Earlier in the day, Weiss and Summer flew out of Iraq on a military plane. Weiss wasn't sure how anything that large could fly using props, and apparently the answer wasn't very well. There was more turbulence on the flight to Frankfurt, Germany than she thought possible. Somehow, Summer fell asleep on the flight, which should not have been possible with how loud the thing was.

The heiress still had trouble believing that she wasn't on Remnant anymore. The evidence was all around her, but it seemed impossible. It went against the laws of physics. Summer said she's been trying to figure it out for years and hasn't gotten anywhere.

Weiss looked toward the bathroom, where Summer was spending an incredible amount of time in the shower. That was another thing Weiss found hard to believe. Both Ruby and Yang said that Summer was killed on a mission thirteen years ago. Yet there she was, and apparently it was fifteen years for her. Even with such a time apart from each other, Weiss saw a lot of similarities between mother and daughter. The way they walked, the way they fought, if she didn't know better, Weiss could have sworn she was staying with an older version of Ruby.

Summer finally came out of the bathroom. Instead of her hair being all black, there were read streaks throughout, just like Ruby's. If it was like that back in Iraq, Weiss might have been able to put the pieces together without Summer's help. "It took longer to get that stuff out than I thought it would." The older Huntress ran her fingers through her hair.

"If it's natural, why hide it?" Weiss asked.

"You wouldn't be able to notice it yet, but hair like this doesn't just happen. Anyway, it wasn't regulation. I couldn't keep it like this if I wanted to stay in the army."

Weiss nodded her head. "I know all about that. My sister joined the Atlas military right out of the academy. She was never the same after that."

"She must be good if she joined right after the academy." Summer sat down on her own bed.

"A Specialist from day one." She looked down at her lap. "I wonder if she's looking for me, or if she even can."

"Hey, I'm sure she's looking for you, or looking for loopholes so she _can_ look for you."

"I hope you're right." Weiss looked up at the TV and resumed watching the news.

"And now for news from around the world. First, we go across the ocean to America, where a fifteen-year-old girl saved another teenager from falling off the top floor or the Mall of America. Normally we would just discount this video footage as fake, but there are dozens of videos turned into local news stations that show the exact same event, but from different angles."

The screen changed to a video of someone dangling off a ledge, with the camera being on the ground floor. Most other people in the shot had their cell phones out and aimed up. Weiss scoffed at the sight. "Why are they all just watching? Why are only a few people doing something?"

Summer shook her head. "That's the cell phone culture in America. People record everything without doing anything about it. It's common in other first world countries, but I don't think it's nearly as bad."

The video paused, and the voice of the anchor from before came back on. "Keep an eye on this girl. This may look like something out of a comic book, but this has been confirmed to have happened." A red box appeared around someone else on the ground floor.

Weiss' eyes went wide. She'd recognize that girl anywhere. She turned to Summer, who's eyes bulged out of her head, and both hands covered her mouth. "Do it, Gem," she said, though it was muffled. "Do it."

Sure enough, Ruby sprinted into action as soon as the girl started to fall. A red streak moved from the floor, to on top of a building in the mall, to a concrete support pillar, to the falling girl, and out of sight on the third floor. Rose petals slowly fell to the ground from where the streak passed.

The video rewound and played again in slow motion. Even at an extremely slow speed, Ruby appeared to be teleporting between frames. Weiss had never seen Ruby run in slow motion before, and was disappointed that the slide show she was treated to showed that she was pretty much normally running, only much faster.

Still, the rose petals just appeared out of nowhere. Ruby never had a good explanation to why that happened. Weiss turned to Summer, who was currently smiling at the TV and wiping tears off her cheeks. "Do you know where the rose petals come from? You leave them when you teleport."

"No clue. It's been like that for generations though. It's not as overt as your family's glyphs, but us Roses have been leaving petals behind us for a long time."

Summer's phone rang and she grabbed it off an end table. She looked at it a second before answering. She brought it up to the side of her head. "Flowers…I'm in Frankfurt, that's why…" She closed her eyes, smiled and nodded. "Yes. I've seen it. She's one of mine…I know, I can't believe it either. I'm on my way back stateside. My flight leaves early tomorrow morning…Yes, I've thought about that, and I'm going to have to have a _long_ talk with my boss about it…Thanks. Hope you have better luck at finding a way home. Talk to you later." She hit a button on her phone, then set it back on the end table.

"Someone else from Remnant?" Weiss asked.

"Yep. He's MI6, British intelligence, and as far as I know, one of two Faunus on Earth."

"Where's the other?"

Summer smirked, looking a lot like Ruby. "Does Blake have cat or dog ears under that bow?" Weiss blinked rapidly, and Summer laughed. "Blue does a similar thing to cover his mouse ears."

"Oh." Something else Summer said caught Weiss' attention. "'Gem?'"

Summer smiled warmly and looked out into the distance. "Makes sense when your daughter's named Ruby. But only her father and I can call her that. It would be weird coming from anyone else." She looked back at Weiss. "So how are you liking Germany?"

"I haven't seen much of it, honestly. Just the drive from the…airport to here and what's out the window. I will say this; the I haven't seen this type of architecture anywhere. And isn't it a little warm to be winter?"

"Europe generally has a warmer climate than other places at this latitude." Summer shrugged. "Where we're going tomorrow though will fell more like Atlas though."

"Better than that desert…What time did you say we're leaving in the morning?"

"Six AM." Summer lay down in her bed. "That time can't come soon enough."

* * *

 **Yes, I know the Summer and Weiss bit was rehashy and just in general this wasn't my best chapter...Also, I haven't been out of the US, so I really don't know how to describe Germany in any length…**


	6. Aggressive Investigation

**Before I start this, I'm going to say I don't know how much longer I'll continue regular uploads with this story. In initial drive to write this dried up after the second chapter, and now I'm struggling to get words down, and I had to force myself to finish this one. There will be at least one more after this though, mainly because it was written before this one. After that, I can't say. An unannounced hiatus is possible.**

 **With that said, time for some different POVs.**

* * *

Taiyang punched his way through what felt like the thousandth Beowolf. Why anyone would set up a base of operations beyond the safety of the Vale Guard was beyond him. Then again, he wasn't a criminal that blatantly attacked kids.

Qrow was right by his side. They set out earlier in the morning to take down at least part of Merlot Industries. All they had starting out was a set of coordinates from Ozpin. They took a Bullhead the first leg of the journey, but went to ground for the last ten miles. It was better to have the element of surprise if they proved hostile.

So far though, the only things hostile were the Grimm. At first, there were only Creeps and Beovolves. Then the green spiked ones started showing up. Taiyang learned early on that they exploded when they died. While he did have guns in his gauntlets, they weren't nearly powerful enough to take them down easily. They really needed an upgrade. He let Qrow take care of those Grimm when allowed.

Just then, and Ursa ran out of the tree line. Taiyang faced it like so many others. At least _they_ never learned. He ran up to it and launched a vicious uppercut at the creature's head. As usual, he extended the spike from his gauntlet and it came out the other side of the Ursa's head. The Grimm then fell over, lifeless.

"How much farther? Taiyang asked his partner.

Qrow looked at his scroll. "Just over that next hill." He pointed straight forward with his scythe in its sword form.

Both teammates took a few steps forward, then gunshots rang out ahead of them. Taiyang stopped in his tracks, as did Qrow. Even is the guards were just defending against Grimm, a few with itchy trigger fingers could easily shoot the Huntsmen pair.

Across a minute, the gunfire slowly died down. It wasn't the steady die down of a defeated Grimm attack. The guns were being silenced one by one. Taiyang and Qrow exchanged a glance. Apparently their target was being overwhelmed.

Once the gunfire completely died down, the Huntsmen continued to the top of the hill. Taiyang looked over the top, and sure enough, a large building was built into the side of another hill. What he didn't expect though was all the ice behind the concrete walls of the complex. From a distance, it looked like there were people frozen in them. "Grimm didn't do this," Taiyang said.

"Oh really?" Qrow rolled his eyes. "What was your first clue?"

Taiyang grunted. "Let's just hope whoever did this is on our side."

Qrow scoffed. "I've seen these ice spikes before. Honestly, it's a tossup on whether she's with us or against us." He started down the hill, his sword ready by his side. Taiyang followed closely and watched their six.

They passed through the relatively intact gates and stepped into a courtyard. On closer inspection, there _were_ people frozen inside those ice pillars. Some were completely frozen, and shouted obscenities at the two Huntsmen. They really held a grudge at whoever attacked them.

In the building, there were less ice pillars and more people strewn out on the ground. Broken weapons lay within arm's reach of several unconscious guards. Taiyang and Qrow passed them by without even glancing in their direction. They were focused on finding whoever caused this much destruction.

Taiyang heard a voice up ahead and slowed to a crawl. Qrow did the same and readied his sword. As the go walked closer, Taiyang could start picking out words. "Yes sir…No, none of the heads are here. I'm going through their files as we speak…No sir, none of them are here." That last sentence almost sounded depressed. "Of course. I will be ready by that time."

The Huntsmen pair pressed up against the side of a door. Taiyang poked his head around the corner and saw a single woman standing in a room full of electronics. She had pure white hair tied up in a bun. A white dress with blue trim covered her. A sword rested by her hip.

"If you were trying to sneak up on me," she said suddenly and without turning around, "you failed when you entered the base." She finally turned around and rested a hand on the hilt of her sword.

Taiyang put his hands up. "Friendlies! We're friendlies."

Qrow pushed him out of the way. "Speak for yourself." He walked into the room and glared at the woman. "What are you doing here, Ice Queen?"

The woman's eyes narrowed. "I should be asking you the same thing, Qrow."

Taiyang looked between the two. "You know each other?"

Qrow dramatically threw his hands up in the air. "Presenting the one and only, Winter Schnee! Atlas 'Specialist.'" He gave a mock bow.

Winter snarled. "I'm not in the mood for your games Qrow."

"Schnee…" Taiyang mumbled, then something clicked in his head. "You're looking for Weiss."

The Huntress relaxed ever so slightly. "She is my sister."

"And my daughter's partner. That's why we're here."

Winter took her hand off her sword and straightened out. "Then it appears we have a common goal."

"Do we?" Qrow scoffed. "Last time I checked, Atlas never did anything out of the goodness of their hearts."

The Huntress scowled and looked like she was about to lay into Qrow, but Taiyang beat her to it. "Save it! Look, I don't care about happened between you in the past. Now is not the time to get at each other's throats." He glared at Qrow. "Can you at least attempt to play nice."

Qrow locked eyes with Taiyang. "Until we get some answers."

"Thank you." Taiyang turned back to Winter. "Now something tells me you have a good reason for leaving that mess out there."

Winter locked her arms behind her back. "I showed the guards at the front gate the search and arrest warrants, and they shut the gate after I entered. They started firing at me soon after. I took necessary action."

"Not even an attempt at subtlety," Qrow commented. "Either they're close to accomplishing what they're after, they don't care about being caught, or they have no idea what they're doing."

"That remains to be seen. I'm running a decryption program now to see what it is they're hiding." One on the computers behind Winter beeped. "In fact, I believe it just finished." She began rapidly typing on one of several keyboards on the large desk. One of the screens on the wall behind it showed a bunch of folders. Most of it was gibberish that only very smart people would understand.

A few words managed to catch his eye though; Mutated Grimm, Mountain Glen, and some kind of Dust called D-Dust. Winter opened all three on separate monitors. Taiyang took over the one on Mountain Glen, hoping he could get some answers about what happened there.

To his disappointment, the folder in question looked like it only had things about removing vital equipment. There was probably something important in there, but he wouldn't know where to look. He'd leave that to whoever's job it was to sift through all that stuff.

"Tai, you might want to take a look at this," Qrow called from a few stations over. Taiyang did as asked and looked over at Qrow's screen. He took the D-Dust folder, and for the most part it looked like stuff only Winter would know. Then Qrow opened the test subject subfolder.

There were two video files from five days ago, the day Ruby and Yang went missing.

"It could be nothing," Qrow said. "It could be an unfortunate coincidence."

"Qrow, we both know that's BS." Taiyang never took his eyes off the screen. His partner eventually opened the first file. The video showed a cave in what looked like Mountain Glen's tunnels. A few Grimm milled around, and a countdown timer sat in the upper right corner.

A few seconds in, most of the Grimm in view ran toward one point. Soon after they were all blown back.

Then Yang stepped up to where all the Grimm were seconds before. Ruby also came into view, swinging her scythe around herself flippantly. That stopped when she looked right at the camera.

Taiyang swallowed hard. "I'm guessing that camera's on the bomb…We don't need to see the rest, we know what happens." He turned around and paced around the room. That video confirmed that his girls were at that place, and Merlot Industries was responsible for whatever happened to them.

"Mr. Xiao Long," Winter said. "There is a possibility team RWBY is still alive."

"Now _you're_ telling me to hold onto hope?" Taiyang turned to the Huntress.

Winter was looking intently at another screen, which also had part of the D-Dust folder open. "I'm saying that bomb might not have killed them. While I may not be…welcome among some Schnee Dust Company circles, I have contacts who are. They've said that they may have a breakthrough with a new type of Dust. Not for combat or energy purposes, but nearly instant travel."

"Like teleportation?" Qrow scoffed. "You just need the right Semblance for that."

"It's more complicated than that. It's not transportation on Remnant, but between realities.

Taiyang blinked. "Wait, are you saying that Dust can take us to different dimensions? Isn't that like, every science _fiction_ ever made?"

"It's not fiction anymore." Winter turned to Qrow. "What's in that second video?"

Qrow opened the file and it showed a person's point of view. A rifle sat at the bottom of the screen. It moved side to side, examining a cave. The person emptied a magazine into a Beowolf, and two other rifles joined it. The Grimm fell, never to rise again. "They're respawning," someone said.

"Then let's confirm detonation and get the hell out of here," came another voice. Two people moved into the screen, neither of them looking well armored or armed. They moved into an area that Taiyang recognized from the first video. "Central, this is Reaper. We've arrived at location."

" _Central copies, Reaper. Any sign of the guests?"_

The screen looked from side to side, then at the ground. "Besides a few shell casings, that's a no. Moving to predicted detonation point."

As the three people moved forward, Taiyang noticed something strange. There was no crater, no scorch marks, or any debris that would give away an explosion. As the guards approached a destroyed bridge though, the rail tracks that they followed disappeared. About fifty feet from going off the edge, a circular black scorch mark laid where the tracks should have been.

"Detonation confirmed. Transport successful. The guests are most likely no longer on Remnant." The camera whipped around and the person behind it shot a charging Creep. "Requesting permission to get the hell out of here."

" _Granted. Return to base at once."_ The video stopped there.

Taiyang clenched his fists. Qrow was right. For the first time in thirteen years, he had hope. "Is there any proof of this working?" he asked no one in particular.

"Probably, but look at this mess!" Qrow gestured at the screen full of folders and subfolders. "We're not going to find anything useful anytime soon."

"There's got to be a storage room in here, right?" Taiyang turned around and started walking toward the door.

"You're not seriously thinking about blowing yourself up are you?" Qrow asked.

Taiyang turned around and glared at his partner. "If there's the slightest chance that Ruby and Yang are alive, I have to try and bring them back."

"For once, I have to agree with Qrow," Winter said. "There are too many unknowns at this point. Is there even a way back? Could this be a trap?"

"If it is, so be it! It's not like I have any family left anyway."

Qrow half scowled. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. None of your family would want to hear _anyone_ go down that path, much less you."

Taiyang forced himself to calm down. Qrow was right. Summer would have held Taiyang close for a few hours. Ruby probably would have done the same thing. Yang, well, she had enough of her dad's moody state after Summer disappeared. She might do anything.

The blond Huntsman sighed. "Okay. What do we do now?"

"A clean up team is currently en-route from Vale," Winter said. "They'll take care of the guards and other 'employees' here, and they'll handle the transfer of files."

"And how many of those will end up with SDC?" Qrow glared at Winter.

The Huntress returned the glare. "Only what is relevant to determining if this Dust is real, and if it actually can travel between dimensions."

"As long as there's a chance of me getting my girls back, I don't care who gets what." Taiyang shook his head. He had a lead on how to find his girls, but he couldn't act on it. He never wanted time to move more quickly than he did at that moment.

* * *

Blake walked into the mall for the fifth time in as many days. Sure, it was getting dangerous to frequent the same place with what she was doing there, but there were also a lot more people in one place. Taking that into account, she was a lot less likely to be caught pickpocketing. It was one of the skills she learned while with the White Fang, and she hated that she had to put it into use again.

In her defense, she only took what she needed, and that was only for food. Blake knew how to survive on the streets. The initial problem was figuring out 'dollars' instead of Lien. The first day was a struggle, as she fished scraps out of garbage cans when she thought people weren't looking.

When she first saw that Lien wasn't used wherever she was, Blake just thought she was outside the kingdoms somewhere. As time went on though, she realized how insane that sounded with the city she was in. Only scattered villages and towns lay outside of the main population centers of each kingdom, and the two cities she was in were much larger than anything should have been outside city walls.

As Blake looked at other people in the mall, she searched for another Faunus. She had been in the city for almost a week, and she hadn't seen a single member of her own race. Atlas and Mistral didn't have the largest Faunus populations, but they had more than there were here.

This all added up to the fact she had no idea where she was. Blake visited all the major cities in the world thanks to her involvement with the White Fang, but this wasn't any of them. While walking around, she found out that the city she arrived in was called Plano and the one she currently was in was called Frisco. Neither of them meant anything to her. It didn't help that people called the kingdom they were in 'Texas,' or 'The EweEss.' The maps she looked at didn't help either. If she didn't know any better, she'd say she wasn't even on Remnant anymore. At least there weren't any Grimm around.

As she entered the food court of the mall, Blake heard a familiar laugh, that a human most likely wouldn't have been able to pick out over the noise of the crowd. She turned toward and followed it to its source.

Blake looked over a railing at the floor below. At first, she didn't see who she was looking for. Then she heard the laugh again, and was able to pinpoint it. She looked at the person, expecting to see her partner.

Sure, the person had long blonde hair, but not Yang long. She wasn't nearly as well built either. Her eyes were the wrong color too. She may have sounded like Yang, but she wasn't.

Two other people stood by the not-Yang. Both of them also had familiar voices, but not faces. One of them had a huge nose and sounded like one of Sun's teammates, and the other wore glasses and sounded like Yang's and Ruby's dad. All three of them were surrounded by other people.

Blake stood there, not believing what she was seeing and hearing. She heard of people making impressions of others, but sounding _exactly_ like her friends was unheard of. They weren't even famous. Was it really possible for two people to sound _exactly_ alike?

She walked away from the railing, disappointed. Blake walked by an electronics store. One of the 'TVs' showed a news station talking about the rescue at the Mall of America two days before. If there was one positive for Blake to hold onto, it was that Ruby was okay and doing what Huntresses should. She had a rough idea where her team leader was, but when she looked at a map, 'Minnesota' was on the other side of the kingdom. She had no means to get there, and she refused to steal to get enough money to get there.

Unfortunately, that involved either hitchhiking or going to the police. She didn't have anything wrong with the police, but if they found out about her involvement with the White Fang, she would be in big trouble, and there would be nothing Ozpin could do about it. That was, of course if, she was still on Remnant. Blake refused to believe otherwise. She still hadn't worked up the courage to hitchhike. It's not like she couldn't defend herself, but there were some incredibly creepy people out there.

Blake left the mall and started walking. Another thing she noticed was a steady increase of cars with green and yellow flags strapped to the back. When she asked someone about it before, the guy said the 'NCAA Division I Football Championship' was in town in a few weeks. Apparently one of the teams in it was there for the sixth year in a row, and their fans showed up early every year.

The lone Faunus roamed the streets of Frisco, looking for money left on the ground and anything that looked even remotely familiar. That had been her routine since arriving. She walked through different areas every day, but nothing ever seemed right. All the buildings in the area were the same colors as well, tan, brown, and gray. That only served to get her lost when she walked down residential areas.

As she was returning to the alley she slept in the past few nights, something disturbing caught her eye. She was walking by a 'Super America' refueling station, and she saw someone pointing a gun at the cashier's head. That guy was either incredibly stupid to hold up a store in broad daylight, or he had something else up his sleeve.

Not waiting to find out what it was, Blake walked into the store. The gunman quickly pointed his weapon at Blake. "Stupid girl. Get in the back with everyone else if you know what's good for ya." Blake could tell from looking at the guy's eyes that he was ready to kill.

Blake looked to another part of the store. Another man with an assault rifle guarded a group of three other people that looked to be a family. She turned back to the first man. "How about this. You and your buddy put your weapons down, and I don't hurt you." She reached for Gambol Shroud, but as she felt for her weapon, she remembered she hid it back where she slept. While some people in the area carried sidearms, no one carried a sword. Carrying her weapon with her would attract way too much attention. It wasn't a terrible problem though, she learned a thing or two from Yang.

The guy with the pistol approached Blake, gun pointed at the Faunus' forehead. "You got a death wish or something? Get to the back of the-" Blake grabbed the guy's arm and twisted it behind his back. His grip on the gun loosened and Blake snatched it. She struck her assailant on the back of the head with it, then aimed of the other criminal.

Before Blake could do anything else though, the other gunman fired. She saw three black specks hit her Aura in between her eyes accompanied by the sound of gunshots. The impacts didn't even knock Blake's head back. She just stared at the other gunman with her commandeered weapon. Blake's eyes simply narrowed. "Your move."

Instead of putting his gun on the ground as expected, he kept firing. Blake's Aura took it all. Under normal circumstances, she would have substituted in a clone, but she had no idea who was behind her. Instead, she ran forward, soaking in all the bullets. She got in close and slammed the gunman against the concrete wall. He slowly fell to the ground unconscious.

As soon as Blake was sure both criminals were down for the count, she flipped the safety on her pistol, ejected the magazine, and made sure the chamber was clear.

As she reached for the rifle to do the same to that though, the door to the store burst open. "Freeze! Police!" Blake did just that. She did not want to get on the bad side of the police. "Now turn around, and slide both those weapons over to me."

"Officer," another voice said, "she wasn't one of the-"

"Quiet!" the officer shouted, probably a little louder than necessary.

"Dude! What gives?" another person in the store yelled. "She wasn't one of them!" He pointed to one of the criminals on the ground.

Even with people protesting, Blake did as the officer said. His requests seemed fairly reasonable to her. Security cameras and eyewitnesses would clear her. She grabbed the end of the barrel of both guns, turned around, and slid them across the floor.

As she did so, she got a look at the officer. He was a young guy, probably new to being a police officer. He held his gun steady, and overall looked disciplined. His eyes gave him away though; he was terrified. Must have been his first armed perp.

Anticipating the officer's next command, Blake lay flat on her stomach and put her hands behind her head. A few seconds later, she felt metal cuffs go around her hands. This wasn't her first time in handcuffs, and she could probably manage to get out if she wanted to, but at this point she could only hurt herself at that point. So Blake just let the officer do his job. She likely wouldn't be in cuffs for long though, if the officers did their job right.

* * *

 **People wanted Blake, so there you go. Also, I said RWBY doesn't exist on this Earth, I never said anything about Rooster Teeth. It's not too unreasonable that they'd have a fan meetup somewhere else in Texas, right?**


	7. Rose Garden

**Before we start, I've come to a decision on how to continue with this. First of all, I'm going to complete Grimm Eclipse to make sure I'm getting Merlot Industries right, but unfortunately that isn't my biggest priority. I have a game of Stellaris to finish up first, and I can only really do that on days where I don't work. I'm also working on creating short term goals instead of only long term ones. Long story short, a hiatus is most likely imminent, as in probably won't upload to this next week.**

 **Let's get to it, the chapter you've been waiting for.**

* * *

Summer's nervousness started when she boarded her transfer flight in Chicago, and only grew as time passed on. By the time the plane landed in Minnesota, she felt like she would explode. The only times when she was short with people before was when she had to be, like boot camp or out on combat missions. Now though, she practically ignored the agent that gave her the agency car, and even Weiss. Summer knew she was being incredibly rude, but she had more important things on her mind.

After fifteen years, she was going to see her little girls again. Though they weren't little girls anymore. Both Yang and Ruby were Huntresses in training at Beacon. Apparently neither were close to the high end of class rankings for regular classes, but what did Summer expect with Tai raising them? On the other hand, they showed extreme promise when it came to combat, though Weiss didn't care for their techniques.

The only reason Summer asked Weiss that much about her daughters was to figure out how well they could survive on their own. She wanted to find out everything else right from the source.

The route to the house Ruby, and apparently now Yang, were staying at was already programmed into the car's GPS, along with a safe house in Brooklyn Center. Summer offered to drop Weiss off, but the heiress refused, saying that she wanted to get back to her team as soon as possible.

During the drive to Blaine, Summer thought Weiss was admiring the scenery, but she didn't really hear any of it. She barely concentrated on the road. So many scenarios and questions streaked through her head. _What if they're not there? What if they don't recognize me…What if they do…and they hate me for leaving them?_

Eventually though, Summer turned onto the street where her girls were saying. It suddenly got hard to breathe. She was so close to seeing them again, just a few more minutes, if that. Her destination had a short driveway and already had two cars parked on it. Summer wasn't sure about the city's ordinances about street parking during the winter, but she wasn't planning on staying too long anyway, if her girls wanted to come with her.

Summer parked on the street in front of the house and felt her heart skip several beats. She was there. Her Gem and Little Sun Dragon were less than a hundred feet away. Even so, her left arm wouldn't obey her command to open her door.

Eventually, her eyes settled back on Weiss, who looked back at Summer with an incredibly confused look on her face. "Why don't you go up there first?" the older Huntress suggested.

Weiss blinked twice. "I figured you'd already be over there by now."

"Well, if I go up there with you, they might forget that you're there. I'll let you have your time first." Summer couldn't keep her voice steady. The truth was, she wanted to break that door down, find her girls, hug them, and not let them go for hours. Unfortunately, that would only be fair to her.

After a second or two, the heiress nodded, and left the car. Even though it was below freezing, Weiss didn't look cold in her combat outfit. Summer looked down at herself to make sure she was presentable. This was the first time she wore her own combat outfit in months, and it was the exact same thing she wore when she last saw her girls. It was that much more of a chance she'd be recognized.

Summer looked up to see Weiss ring the doorbell. A few seconds later, the door opened. While it wasn't one of her girls, it was the guy who rescued Ruby from freezing to death on the side of the interstate. The Huntress made a mental note to thank him in some way in the future.

After a few seconds, the guy disappeared from the door and Weiss took a step or two back. The screen door practically exploded open and a girl dressed in red and black rushed out.

Summer's throat clenched to a painful level as she saw her Ruby trap Weiss in a hug. Ruby had an impossibly large smile on her face. She was possibly a little taller than Weiss, if the heiress wasn't wearing heels. From a distance, it looked like she had two cross pins keeping her hood in place. Summer touched one of her own. It looked like her daughter picked up her spares. _My baby girl's all grown up._

Weiss finally returned the hug. If Ruby was anything like Summer was at that age, she wouldn't have let go until that happened. Her other teammates probably learned that early on.

Yang made it out the front door, also with a huge smile on her face. The pictures Weiss had of her didn't do her justice. Her golden hair stretched down toward her knees, though it was unkempt in places. She was remarkably well built, with muscles that soldiers would be jealous of. If her personality stayed similar to what it was when she was younger, she could make fast and long lasting friends. If she could break through to a Schnee, she could make friends with anyone.

Ruby let Weiss go and it looked like she talked a mile a minute. Weiss put her hands up as if to tell Ruby to slow down and Yang laughed. Yang put a hand on Ruby's shoulder that made Ruby snicker. Weiss, on the other hand 'punched' the blonde on the shoulder.

Finally, Summer found the strength to open her door. She stepped outside and closed it loudly. It grabbed the attention of the still laughing Yang. She looked over toward the source of the noise and locked eyes with Summer.

Yang's eyes opened to their fullest extent and her jaw dropped. Summer tried not to let the same happen and walked toward her daughters.

Ruby looked at Yang, and it sounded like she snorted. "Yang, you look like you've seen a ghost."

Summer took a quick breath when she heard her Gem's voice. _You're not far off._

"I…I think I do." Yang put a hand on Ruby's shoulder and turned her around.

The next few seconds felt like moment from one of those cheesy romance movies Summer's coworkers sometimes dragged her to. Ruby turned around, a smile plastered on her face. Her hair swished to the side. Two sets of silver eyes met for the first time in too many years.

Unlike those movies though, Ruby's smile vanished almost instantly. Her mouth hung open. The light left her eyes. She took a step back on her now shaky legs.

There was a hitch in Summer's step. _She can't be afraid of me, can she? No. She's shocked. She thinks I'm dead. I shouldn't be here, but I am._

Ruby looked between Weiss and her mom. "Who is she?" she whispered.

Weiss smiled, a rarity for the girl. "I think you know." Ruby's eyes widened even more and she turned to face her mom again.

Summer to within five feet of her daughters. She smiled warmly at both of them as she fought to hold back tears. "Hey girls. It's been a long time." _Really Summer? You've had how long to think of what to say and you go with THAT?_

Ruby's bottom lip trembled. "M-mo-mom?"

The flood gates opened up. Summer let out a breath and slowly nodded. "Gem," Ruby gently gasped at the use of her nickname, "I never thought I'd hear you say that again."

Ruby's own eyes started leaking fiercely. "Mommy!" Before Summer knew what happened, her daughter slammed into her with impressive energy. Arms and legs alike wrapped around her body. It forced her to take a few steps back, and she actually fell into one of the snow piles at the top of the driveway. Before she fell to the snow though, she wrapped her own arms around Ruby.

Summer lay there in the snow, holding her daughter close. Ruby tightened her already strong grip and buried her face in the space between her mom's shoulder and neck. The girl sobbed hard, but in the best way possible. Summer slowly rubbed her daughter's back, just like she used to all those years ago.

Suddenly, an arm it's way behind Summer's back. It pulled and Summer removed one of her arms from Ruby. Shortly after that, Yang's teary face came into view. Summer wrapped her now free arm around her other daughter. "I didn't forget about you Little Sun Dragon." It looked like Yang's throat constricted, and she leaned her head forward slightly.

All three heads met in the middle. Summer tried to contain a laugh but failed. She kissed Yang on the forehead and Ruby's hair, and repeated the sequence several times. She tightened her grip on her girls, not wanting to let go.

"Please let this be real. Please let this be real," Ruby begged into her mom's neck.

"This is real, Ruby," Summer comforted. "This is very real."

Ruby finally pulled her head back. "This is where you've been for the past thirteen years?"

A lump formed in Summer's throat, but not from joy this time. "It's been fifteen for me. I'd say not an hour went by without thinking of both of you, but I have to sleep sometime. If a chance to go back ever presented itself, I would have taken it in a heartbeat. I-I'm sorry I left both of you alone for so long."

"It sounds like you're the one who was alone." Ruby's legs dropped, but her arms still hung around her mom's neck. A wide smile broke out on her face. "But we're here now. Mom, I have so much to tell you."

"We both do," Yang said, finally finding her voice. "Some of it you might not believe."

Summer smirked. "We're in another planet, where Grimm aren't native and seven and a half billion people live. I think I'll believe anything you say, and I want to hear all of it."

Ruby's eyes sparkled. "Before, during, or after cookies?"

The other two laughed, and Summer moved her arm that held Ruby to her daughter's hair and ruffled it. "Thirteen years later and that's still all you can think about."

"Yeah, she's a cookie eating machine," Yang said patting Ruby on the back.

"The correct term here is 'cookie monster.'" Summer grabbed a handful of Yang's long hair and gently pulled. She was the only one to get away with that way back when, but that was so many years ago.

Yang yelped and backed away from her other two family members. "Mom! That hurts!" She rubbed the part of her head where hair meets scalp.

Both Summer and Ruby laughed. The latter finally let go of her mom and landed gently on the ground. Summer looked toward the door to the house. Weiss stood right by the door with a small smile on her face. The door was closed, but there were probably people just inside. Considering both Ruby and Yang were staying there, those that actually lived there must not be too bad.

Summer looked down at her youngest. "Why don't you introduce me to the people you've been staying with?"

Ruby nodded quickly and ran past her two teammates to the door. Summer and Yang slowly followed. "I'm here too," Weiss said, with fake exasperation.

"Sorry Weiss," Yang said. "It's just been a lot longer since we've seen mom."

Weiss sighed, then looked at Summer. "You were right. I'm invisible."

"Cheer up, Weiss." Ruby opened the screen door. "We're getting the team back together! We just need to find Blake."

"We might actually have a lead on her."

If it was possible for Ruby's eyes to light up even more, it just happened. "Really?"

"Northern Texas," Summer confirmed. "She's not in a fixed position though, and I have to take care of a few things here before we can head south." What she didn't say was that agents in the state had been looking for Blake from the beginning, and after her first appearance in the police station, they couldn't track her down again.

Ruby pumped a fist. "Yes! Almost there!" She opened the main door and turned to the left. "Oh, hey Fred. There's a couple people out here I'd like you to meet." Everyone outside entered the house, with Summer bringing up the rear.

"This is my partner Weiss." Ruby put a hand in Weiss' shoulder. "She may seem uptight as first, but she's really friendly when you get to know her."

"Hey!" Weiss shrugged Ruby's hand off.

"And this," Ruby ignored her partner and hugged Summer once again, "is my mom!" If there was a real life happiness meter, Summer was sure Ruby's rating would be off the charts.

Summer looked to the guy who pulled her Ruby of the interstate. "You must be Fred Olson. I've read a lot about you."

Fred blinked, and the statement seemed to surprise Ruby and Yang too. "Uh, you've what?" Fred asked.

"I'm with the FBI. When I heard one of my daughters was being housed with a civilian, I had to check it out. Since both of them are here and neither tried to run away from here immediately, I won't have to make you disappear."

Ruby snorted. "Mom, please don't threaten him."

"You're sounding like dad," Yang laughed.

Suddenly Weiss made a high pitched squeal. "Aww! They're so cute!"

Summer stared at the heiress, trying to figure out how a Schnee could make that kind of sound, then she looked down at the floor. One kitten stood in front of Weiss and another walked over to Summer and Ruby.

Ruby pointed to the one in front of Weiss. "That one's Tigger," she knelt down to pick up the other, "and this one's Eleven."

"Eleven?" Summer turned to Fred.

The guy shrugged. "The white fur on his chest looks like a bowtie."

Summer looked at said spot and smirked. "And bowties are cool."

"Finally! Someone who gets it!"

"What?" Ruby turned between Fred and Summer.

"I'm going to have to introduce you to Doctor Who." Summer ran a finger down Eleven's back.

"So, what now?" Yang asked.

Summer looked between both her girls. "Weiss already knows this. The Bureau set up a safe house for us in Brooklyn Center. It's about a twenty-minute drive away from here. There should be enough room for five people comfortably in there. If you want, you can-"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Ruby jumped up and down. Eleven jumped out of her arms and to the floor. Arms now free, Ruby hugged her mom once more.

"…I was going to say you can stay here. If I'd known you didn't want to come home with me, I wouldn't have come."

"No you weren't." Ruby tightened her grip.

Summer turned to her other daughter. "What about you Yang?"

Yang smiled for ear to ear. "What Ruby said." She also moved in for a hug. The three family members stood in each other's embrace silently, enjoying each other's closeness.

"Sooo," Fred said awkwardly, "anyone thirsty? We've got a bunch of cold pop in the basement?"

* * *

Ruby looked out the car window at the safe house. It turns out that this one was actually a house, not a run-down apartment somewhere. The building was slightly bigger than her home on Patch, and slightly newer.

It wasn't the house that Ruby cared about though, it was the other people living there. Yang found her two days ago, and that felt like a miracle in and of itself. Coming from over a thousand miles away couldn't have been easy. If that wasn't good enough, Weiss also made it back that day. She seemed happier than normal, yet she was hiding something at the same time.

Then there was her mom. Ruby had a smile fused to her face since hugging her mom the first time. It had been thirteen years since the last time that happened. It looked like her mom was in a similar condition. She couldn't stop asking Ruby and Yang questions about everything. Weiss was just along for the ride, but she didn't look like she cared.

"Okay girls," Summer said as she parked the car in the garage, "welcome to our new home for who knows how long. Sorry, but I get the master."

"First come, first serve on the other rooms!" Ruby jumped out of the car and grabbed her one suitcase from the trunk. The garage was detached, so she sprinted across the cleared walkway, onto the deck, and finally into the house. She entered in the kitchen, and she kicked her shoes off. Wanting to beat Yang and Weiss, she ran to the back of the house and threw her suitcase in the first room she could find. After she did that though, she saw there were two beds in the room. _Oh well, looks like I'll be sharing with Yang again, unless she claims one of the other ones._

Other slower footsteps came from the hall Ruby just left. Soon after, Yang poked her head into the room. "You found this quickly." She looked at the second bed in the room. "You mind?"

"Not if you don't!" Ruby chirped. Yang nodded and threw her own bag onto the bed. "Could you help me get my 'new' computer out of the trunk?"

"Why'd Fred give that to you anyway?"

"It was going to a recycling place anyway. I might be able to get a little more use out of it. He did wipe the hard drive though."

"Smart guy." The sisters walked back to the kitchen and saw their mom going through the cupboards. "Whatcha doing, mom?" Yang asked.

"Safe houses are supposed to be fully stocked all the time," Summer replied. "But their definition of fully stocked and mine are very different, especially if you two are the big eaters I remember you to be."

"We are." Ruby gave a sideways nod.

"Well, it looks like I'm going to have to…wait." Summer reached far back into one of the cabinets. Her eyes narrowed slightly, but quickly returned to their normal size. "Actually, I won't have to go anywhere to get started." She turned to Ruby. "Would you like chocolate chip or MnM cookies?"

Ruby straightened up slightly. "MnMs are those chocolate things, right?" Her mom nodded. "Why not both?"

Summer smiled. "I had a feeling you'd say that. Coming right up."

Yang pulled on Ruby's arm. "Come on Ruby. Let's get you rig out of the trunk. Give mom some space to work and all that." The sisters walked out of the house back toward the garage. "So what do you think of mom?" Yang asked as Ruby reopened the trunk.

"She's amazing!" Ruby bounced on the balls of her feet. "She's nice, she's funny, and if what dad and Uncle Qrow say about her is true, she's an amazing Huntress!"

"Yeah. From what I remember, she hasn't changed a bit." Yang sighed. "But it's been so long. What if she isn't the supermom I remember."

Ruby shrugged. "She is, and isn't. It's been fifteen years for her, away from us and Remnant. That can change anyone. But she _is_ mom. We know that. She may not be exactly how we remember her, but she's still supermom."

"You're just happy to see her again."

"And why shouldn't I be? She's here, and I haven't seen her since I was two!" Ruby lifted the tower out of the trunk. "I'm sure she needs us just as much as we need her."

"You're probably right." Yang grabbed the monitor and a bunch of cords.

"I can do that sometimes." Ruby walked out of the garage. "Watch out for ice. I don't want any of this stuff smashed."

"You worry too much." Yang followed Ruby back into the house. Inside, Summer was already hard at work making the cookie dough. She waved at the other two, then continued working her magic.

Ruby stopped in the door to her room. "Oh. There's no desk in here…"

"That's a problem," Yang agreed. "There has to be one somewhere in here." She set the monitor on the one dresser in the room.

Ruby followed suit and looked and looked around the house for anything that could be used as a desk. She hadn't even checked out the basement yet, so she walked downstairs to continue her search. A large, wooden workstation sat in the back left corner. It had a pullout keyboard slot and holes in the back for cords. It was a little big for just a computer desk, so it could probably be turned into a weapons maintenance station, if there wasn't a better suited spot anywhere.

"Found a place!" Ruby called up the stairs before she ran up them. Yang was still in their room, unpacking her few clothes. "There's a nice desk downstairs. Sure, it's public, but that's what headsets are for."

Yang shrugged. "If it works, why not?" She picked up the monitor and cables again. Ruby took her tower and led the way to the basement.

At the bottom of the stairs, Ruby almost ran into a very angry and tired looking Weiss. "You're not going to make noise down here, are you?"

"I wasn't planning on it." Ruby looked over Weiss. "Why are you in your pajamas? It's only five."

"I've been awake I don't know how long. I got up early in the morning to get on a 'plane' and flew for about ten hours, with no chance of sleep. I have what your mom calls 'jet lag.' Now, unless you want to wake up one day with peanut butter all over your weapon, you'd better keep it quiet!" Weiss turned around and stormed into one of the bedrooms in the basement.

"Did-did she really just threaten Crescent Rose?" Ruby asked as her partner disappeared.

"I think she just did," Yang said, equally surprised. "She must be really tired to do that."

"Apparently. Well, let's get this thing set up then get out of her hair." Ruby set the tower down roughly where she wanted it. For a normal person, the desk was probably too heavy to move by themselves. Yang, however, wasn't a normal person. She pulled the desk slightly away from the wall to let Ruby get behind it to hook up all the cords. It took longer than she thought it would, but she eventually got the computer to start up.

Ruby would have tested it further, but she didn't want to suffer Weiss' wrath. The sisters walked back upstairs and into the kitchen. It looked like their mom already had a batch in the oven. Summer smiled at the two newcomers. "I've got a mixing bowl and a spoon here. Who wants what?"

"Bowl!" Ruby snatched the large bowl of the counter and the small spoon beside it. She sat down at the table in the kitchen and went to town on the cookie dough still in the bowl.

Summer laughed, a beautiful sound to Ruby's ears. "Some things never change."

"Never take her to a strawberry farm." Yang took the wooden spoon loaded with more cookie dough. "There wouldn't be anything left."

"Strawberries huh? I'll have to keep that in mind." Summer looked between Yang and Ruby. "So since the cookies are in the oven, why don't you show me your weapons, if it's safe to do so in here."

Ruby's eyes widened and she sped up eating the cookie dough. She finished in record time and ran to the living room. Her left hand held Crescent Rose in the weapon's travel form. "Okay mom! I present, Crescent Rose!" She hit a button on the case and the scythe extended to its full form.

The smile that adorned Ruby's face for so long disappeared. Something was…off. Her mom apparently didn't notice the change. "Impressive. Looks like you took Qrow's scythe and incorporated a sniper into it. Modular at points, high impact, I'd guess .50 caliber, range of just under a mile. It also kind of looks like a Barret…" Summer came back into Ruby's view. "Did I miss any…Ruby what's wrong?"

Ruby collapsed her weapon, and noticed the same thing. The process was slightly slower. An unusual grinding sound came with the usual noise. Ruby extended and collapsed her scythe several times to try and figure where the problem was. Eventually, she laid her weapon down on the carpet, fully extended. She looked up at her mom. "I don't suppose you know where a tool kit is, do you?"

"Hold on." Summer disappeared into her bedroom and returned with a small white case. "This is a custom field kit I put together for Sun's Light. It might not have everything you need though. Oh, and the WD-40 is Earth's equivalent of DW-30."

"It'll do for now." _Custom field kit huh, sounds like a good idea._ Ruby turned back to her scythe and set to work on the offending section. With the covering off, she took a look at the inner workings of her weapon. On her quick first look, nothing looked out of place.

The smell though was off. Back on Remnant, Ruby used DW-30 as her lubricant. Whatever was in there wasn't that. Ruby grabbed the small bottle of WD-40 from the kit, and sniffed the end. Definitely wasn't that either. Then again, it may just smell off because of her time in the forest before being rescued, or something somehow got spilled on it in the hospital.

Ruby took a closer look inside. Her eyes rested on a single spring. It was turned one hundred and eighty degrees off of what she knew it was before going on that mission. Wind or spillage couldn't have done that. "Someone's been inside here!" She searched through her mom's tool kit to see if she could take her weapon apart and put it back together the right way. Unfortunately, it was missing several key tools. Then again, it was made for a weapon that didn't transform into a box slightly bigger than a scroll.

"That's another thing I'll have to talk to them about," Summer mumbled. Ruby looked up at her mom confused. For the first time since meeting, her mom didn't have a smile on her face. "Long story short, I'm not happy with how differently you and Yang have been treated by the FBI since coming here."

"What do you mean? They haven't even talked to me."

"That's what I'm talking about! They dumped you with a family they knew nothing about, and they set Yang up in my apartment in New York City. She's now 'officially' a US citizen and has access to government funds. Did they give you any of that?" Ruby shook her head.

"Wait, that was _your_ apartment?" Yang asked from the entry to the kitchen. "They said it belonged to someone else."

"The only people that know my real name are from Remnant. Everyone else knows me as Clara Flowers."

"So what do you think's going on here?" Ruby asked.

Summer sighed. "With your scythe, I'm guessing they were trying to figure out how it worked and replicate it for other weapons. Everything else, they're probably trying to recruit you."

"They do know Huntsmen aren't technically supposed to support any one government, right?" Yang asked.

"We aren't exactly old enough for that kind of work either," Ruby chipped in.

"This isn't Remnant," Summer stated. "To the rest of the world, Huntsmen and Huntresses might as well not exist. Anyway, everyone from Remnant that I know works for a government in some way, although they're mostly involved with Grimm defense and hostage rescue.

"I will agree with you on age though. The youngest a person can join the military or any government agency is eighteen. Both of you are too young for that. Then again, they've seen what others from Remnant can do. They might not care about age when it comes to us."

"Is that how they got you?" Ruby asked.

"They 'got' me when they offered me a position on the FBI's hostage rescue team. That, and if I didn't take it, I'd continue to live off scraps for the rest of my life. They'd most likely try the same on you two, but at least you have a place to stay if you refuse."

Ruby stayed silent for a second, then asked, "So what are we going to do?"

"I'm going to the FBI branch here tomorrow to get some answers. After that, well, there should be a lot of stuff to around here. Movies, food, malls, I don't think we'll get bored." Summer sat down on a couch in the room. "Now, what have I missed the past thirteen years?"

* * *

Summer woke up in the middle of the night because of something falling across her torso. Without even opening up her eyes, she knew it was an arm. She tried to not move, so the pervert wouldn't know she was awake. This wasn't the first time someone tried to sleep with her, but after what she did to the first guy, no one even made crude jokes in her direction.

She slowly cracked open her right eye to see who it was and where exactly to strike. As soon as Summer saw the red and black hair though, both eyes snapped open. Someone was trying to sleep with her, but not the way she expected. Ruby came across the hall from her room and cuddled up close. She was somehow already out cold.

Summer smiled as she gently kissed her daughter's forehead. Ruby was probably too old at that point to do this, but neither of them cared. Summer freed the arm trapped between her and Ruby and wrapped it around her daughter. It felt so right to be a mom again.

* * *

 **That enough happy feels for you? It feels good to write some happy stuff when my other story constantly stabbing people in the heart.**


	8. Settling In

**I am back, and I have a few more short term goals to work with. Over the break though, I was contacted by the author of the Emergence series. I will say this now to everyone, I started writing this before I knew Emergence existed. There are a lot of unintentional parallels everywhere. Really, if you want a better written RWBY on Earth story, go read that if you haven't already.**

 **As to when this will be uploaded…look for it on Mondays, but I can't guarantee every Monday or even every other Monday. I'll work on this one when I have inspiration, which hasn't been around a lot for this.**

 **Anyway, back to this.**

* * *

Weiss sat wide awake in her bed, as she had for the few hours. She was afraid to close her eyes and continue to sleep. Sure, she had nightmares about what she did in Iraq before, but for whatever reason last night was the most vivid. Those kills were definitely justified. Why did she feel terrible?

She looked at a clock and saw it was almost eight. Ruby would definitely be up, and Yang still out cold for at least another hour. If Weiss waited any longer to move around, Ruby would definitely suspect something, especially since Weiss went to bed early the night before.

Weiss swung her legs off the side of her bed and stood up. She looked down at herself and decided people wouldn't care if she walked around in her pajamas. It wasn't like she was going out in public. She walked out of her room and across the lower level's living room. While this house was nowhere near as nice as what she was used to back in Atlas, but at least it was bigger than the single room at Beacon. The dorm room still occasionally felt cramped with four people living in there.

When Weiss reached the bottom of the staircase, Ruby was already halfway down. "Oh! Morning Weiss!" the team leader said with her usual smile on her face.

"Morning Ruby," Weiss said as Ruby continued down the stairs.

The heiress passed Ruby and was halfway up the stairs when Ruby called, "Something wrong, Weiss?"

Weiss stopped and turned back slightly. "I just didn't sleep well, that's all." She continued up the stairs, but she heard footsteps coming up behind her.

Right as Weiss reached the top, a hand fell on her shoulder. "Weiss, we've shared a room for six months. I know what you look and act like when you don't sleep well."

"It's nothing, really." Weiss tried to shrug Ruby's hand off, but it stayed firmly in place.

Ruby glently spun Weiss around so their eyes were locked. "It's my job to make sure everyone on my team is in peak condition. Just because we're not on Remnant anymore doesn't mean that I don't have to do it. What's bothering you?"

Weiss sighed. She knew Ruby wouldn't let it go until she told the truth. She pulled away and sat in a chair in the kitchen. "Did your mom tell you where she found me?" Ruby shook her head. "Have you heard about Iraq?"

Ruby nodded, then her eyes widened. "That was you?"

"What was me?" Weiss slightly narrowed her eyes.

"There was a reporter on TV a few days ago that was rescued there. He said the one that rescued him looked like you."

Weiss blinked. So _that's_ why that guy was dressed so nicely. "Yeah, well, I'm not exactly proud of what I had to do to get there."

"What do you mean?" Ruby's voice trembled. She knew more than she let on.

"I killed people in order to save them." That was the first time Weiss said that to anyone. Summer and all the soldiers she had contact with already knew. Weiss' eyes teared up as she admitted the deed to herself.

"What?" Ruby whispered.

"It wasn't just that one guy there either. There were a few out in the desert too. "They were trying to kidnap me, and I thought they had Aura to protect them. I mean, who doesn't these days?"

"Weiss, it was self-defense," Ruby reasoned, though she didn't sound all that confident.

"That's supposed to make it better?" Weiss snapped. Ruby took a step back at the outburst. "I've killed people!" Weiss looked down at the table in front of her. "I guess I knew it could happen someday, I just never thought it would be this soon."

"They were terrible people Weiss, and you saved lives in the process." Ruby sounded slightly more confident.

Weiss sighed. "I know, but I'm not a soldier. I can't just turn off my emotions like them."

"You think that's what we do?" a voice said from the side. Weiss turned to the source and saw Summer standing in the doorway on the other side of the kitchen. Instead of her combat outfit, she wore a black suit and tie. For the first time that Weiss saw since leaving Iraq, Summer didn't have a smile on her face. In fact, she looked like she was only a few steps above crying herself.

"Oh, uh, how long have you been standing there?" Weiss asked.

"Long enough to hear everything both of you said." Summer focused her eyes on Weiss. "So you really think that's what we do?"

Weiss hesitated. "Isn't it?"

Summer shook her head. "From my experience, only special forces are only able to do that. Everyone on my squad has killed someone at some point." She shuddered. "I by far took it the worst of everyone I know."

"Mom?" Ruby's voice quivered.

"Nashville, 2006. A bunch of left wing extremists held Tennessee's governor and several members of the state's senate hostage. My team was sent in to get them out. Since I can teleport, I went in first to get intel on who was where and how many guards there were." Summer lowered her head. "After my fifth time in, I was spotted. All it took was one gunshot to start everything. At that point it was kill the criminals or let the hostages die.

"Fifteen kills in ten seconds." Tears finally escaped her eyes. "It doesn't matter that they were criminals. Killing them tore me apart. While the country praised me as a hero, I was struggling to keep my head above water. Tai and Qrow would have killed me for having that drinking problem."

Summer looked up at Weiss. "I'll tell you now, it never gets any easier. The pain though only stays if you let it. Everyone copes differently. I overcame it by focusing on all the lives I saved that day. That, and everything I've done to help people before and since." Ruby suddenly ran across the kitchen and brought her mom into a tight hug. "Then there was the fact that my family wouldn't want to see me moping around."

Weiss looked away from the two family members. "Well, one of those might work for me."

"I don't think you'll have to worry about Uncle Qrow being mad, mom," Ruby said.

"Why not? He always said that we may need to act on a moment's notice."

"He's, uh, kind of always drunk now…" Weiss looked back up at Ruby. That was the guy she always talked about?

Summer held Ruby at arm's length. "What? How long has he been like that?"

"As long as I can remember."

"Even when he was training you?"

"Yeah, though he has said multiple times that he doesn't want me to end up like him."

Summer's jaw dropped, then she sighed. "I'm going to kill him." She looked at her watch. "Sorry Ruby, I've got to go. I don't know how long I'll be gone. I should be back for dinner though. Your choice." She kissed Ruby on the forehead, and Weiss looked away again.

"I'll think of something. Just come home as soon as you can."

"I will." Summer released her daughter and made her way to the door. She stopped right by Weiss. "Don't let this eat you like it has so many others. We're in the business of saving lives, not taking them. If you ever want to talk, I'm all ears." She walked out the door right as she finished speaking.

Weiss looked at Ruby, who now had glossy eyes of her own. "You going to be okay, Weiss?" she asked.

"Hopefully." Weiss sighed. "So your uncle trained you while he was drunk?"

Ruby turned away slightly. "Yeah."

"Suddenly your recklessness makes sense."

* * *

Summer drove down city roads toward the FBI building in Brooklyn Center. She was trying to compose herself after her confession to Weiss and Ruby. She had plenty of time to do it thanks to the steady snowfall and slow traffic.

It wasn't the fact that she told her story that got to her, it was who she told it to and how they reacted. Weiss looked more surprised than anything. Ruby, though, was mortified. Her eyes grew big and teared up almost instantly. She brought a hand to her mouth to cover quivering lips. Summer hadn't been with her little girl for twenty-four hours, and she already destroyed Ruby's perceptions of her.

Summer tried to push all of that down as the FBI building came into sight. She had to be professional. She had to find out why they had an interest in her daughters. As far as she was concerned, Ruby and Yang would have a choice of what they'd do in this world.

She pulled into the building's driveway and showed her ID to the guard out front. The guard waved her through quickly, and Summer found a parking spot on the far side of the lot. She didn't mind the cold, especially after being in the desert for a few months, so she saved the closer spots for those who couldn't take it.

As soon as Summer entered the building, she was practically ambushed by a secretary. "Good morning, Special Agent Flowers. Special Agent Bednar is waiting upstairs for you."

"Lead the way." Summer gestured out in front of her.

The secretary turned and started walking. She passed back a manila folder. "Special Agent Bednar said all the information he has is in that folder."

Summer opened it up. "Can you give me a rough rundown?"

"I'm sorry, that's above my clearance level." A practiced response, and an expected one. The number of people not from Remnant that knew where Summer was from was minimal, supposedly less than twenty. She didn't think the president knew exactly where she was from. It would probably be a big scandal that the government had aliens working for them if the information was ever leaked, but that wasn't her department.

The secretary hit a few things on her tablet. "It says here that you were recalled from Iraq several weeks early. You are not due to be back in the states until mid-January, and even then you'd have a week before you're scheduled to be back on the job."

"That is correct, and the reason why is also above your paygrade." Summer removed a stack of pictures of Crescent Rose, fully extended, and taken apart. That confirmed Ruby and her suspicions. You never even _touch_ a Huntsman's weapon without their permission, much less dismantle it. It was an unspoken rule that everyone on Remnant knew. Ruby had every right to be mad. Then again, Earth wasn't Remnant.

The secretary stopped and turned to face Summer. "He's waiting in here for you, ma'am."

Summer looked at the door, then back at the secretary. "Thank you. That will be all." The secretary nodded, then walked back the way she came.

Summer then walked into the conference room. As expected, only Special Agent Trevor Bednar was in the room. He was Summer's direct superior since day one. In fact, he was one of the few in charge of all Huntsmen and Huntresses all NATO countries. For the first two years, it was only Summer. Then the Grimm started showing up. In early 2004, Blue and his team arrived in England. After that, the number of Huntsmen snowballed, to the point where there were twenty confirmed across the world by the end of 2005. After that though, the numbers arriving dropped to less than one arrival per year, and the total number of Huntsmen on Earth was twenty-nine, thirty-three counting team RWBY. The man standing in front of Summer knew where they all were stationed at any given time.

Trevor looked up at Summer and smiled. "Clara. It's good to see you. How was your flight?"

"Uneventful. Slept all the way across the Atlantic. And yours?"

"Had to be diverted slightly over the Appalachians. Some giant Condors were spotted in our flight path that the Air Force wanted to take down quickly."

Summer blinked. Nevermores couldn't fly as high as jets. "Chair Force put up a temporary no-fly-zone?"

"That's the procedure now. The president ordered it last month after a Pegasus took down a news chopper just outside Detroit, and more got in the way of the National Guard when they arrived." Trevor sighed. "But we're not here to talk about how we've dealt with recent Grimm attacks."

"No, we aren't." Summer laid her folder down on the table. "I would very much like to know why you've treated Yang and Ruby so differently." She tried to keep her voice even, but she heard the edge to it.

Trevor didn't even blink. "Those two are your daughters, aren't they?"

"Yes. I take it you figured that out from the names I gave you at the beginning?"

"That, the wording in your return e-mail, your actions at the airport yesterday, and how you phrased the purpose of the meeting." Trevor paused. _"I_ wasn't thinking about recruitment if that's what you're thinking. The four that just arrived are all minors, and are unfit for work in any of the fields the rest of you are in."

"Then can you explain to me why you put Yang into my apartment, fully equipped, and let Ruby be taken by someone outside our circle?" Summer felt her anger bubbling to the surface.

"I'm sure you've noticed this by now. Minnesota isn't New York City. We couldn't let Yang live on the streets. Since she didn't trust any of the agents she met in the city, so we let her use your apartment. We gave her what she needed to survive in the city. Ruby was in a different situation. Even though she was unconscious at the time, she had prior experience with the one we sent her with. If one of them didn't like the arrangements, I had agents ready to take her in.

"Oh really?" Summer narrowed her eyes. "When I was talking to her last night, she clearly said the word 'orphanage.' How would agents help with that?"

"We had a missing person report from New York City thanks to Yang. Ruby would have been flown out there right away."

"And why wasn't that the first option?" Summer held herself back from slamming her fist on the table.

"Again, New York isn't exactly the best city for kids to live in alone."

"Since when does the FBI deal with sheltering the homeless?" Summer's fingers clamped into the table, turning then slightly white.

"When they're not from Earth, we have a hand in their shelter." Trevor sighed. "Look, I know you're angry. I would be too if someone housed my boys somewhere without me knowing about it. But Clara, you've worked with us for years. Do you really think that we'd use kids?"

"The first thing you said about this was about recruitment, and I can't think of any other reason for the Secretary of Defense to personally sign the order to bring me home early."

Trevor hesitated. "He wants to them to be on our side."

"We fight Grimm!" Summer finally exploded. "That's what my squad was for overseas. That's the primary concern of all of _us!_ We're not the ones you use to fight wars. We aren't your nuclear deterrent. We're the ones who fight those monsters because the rest of the world doesn't know how to yet. Why are you trying to force my girls into this mess?"

"Are you done?" Trevor asked, deadpan. Summer just glared. "This isn't Europe, or the US right after 9/11. You know the standard procedures. You helped make them. We find those from Remnant and acclimate them to Earth so they don't try and play hero and causing a panic in the process, like the fourth member of this new team did down in Texas."

Summer blinked. "What about Blake?" Ruby would probably be happy to hear anything about her last teammate.

"Blake Belladonna was arrested by Frisco police for robbing a Seven Eleven. After reviewing security footage though, she was released on the scene because she was actually the one to _stop_ it. Unfortunately, she is once again in the wind. People are already talking though. That news footage was released to the local media, and I'm surprised the national networks haven't picked it up yet. They took Ruby's story quickly enough."

"She got away again?"

"But we know she's in the area, and we have thousands of eyes looking for her now. She won't be out of sight for long."

"I'm starting to think I need to head down there myself and look around." Summer once again glared at Trevor. "Now back to my girls…"

"I know you most likely won't believe me, but I had no intention of recruiting them right off the bat. The only reason I even knew about them is because you gave us their names when you joined up. Since you said there was more people like you on Remnant, I figured the names you gave me were friends and family. I couldn't let them stay on the streets once I knew about them. You'd probably kill me."

Summer stood silent for a second. "I'm still mad at you. Maybe I'm being overprotective after not seeing them for years, but I still think you could have done something better."

Trevor scoffed good naturedly. "You think there could be a better way to add two and two together."

"And until I'm proven wrong, I will keep believing that. Still, there has to have been a way to not have me needing to come in here and give you a piece of my mind. Dissecting Ruby's scythe? Really? You _never_ do that to a Huntsman's weapon without their permission" Summer paused. "How did you get it back together anyway? That weapon has the complexity of an F-35."

"Don't ask me. The guy's in the basement too care of that."

Summer nodded. "I'm sure Ruby, Weiss, and Yang may have some ideas on how to get Blake's attention."

"Okay. Now there's a few more things on this broad subject that I'd like to discuss."

"And what would those be?" Summer finally sat down at the table, most of her anger fading. As long as her girls were safe from any government conspiracy, she was happy to listen to whatever her boss had to say.

* * *

After listening to Trevor for way too long, and making sure the local Hy-Vee had a strawberry and Hershey bar shortage, Summer returned to the safe house. In truth, the building felt more like a home than any other place. She had her family, which was more than she had in years.

One of those reasons was just inside the door front, eating a bowl of soup. "Morning Yang!" Summer chirped as the door closed behind her.

Yang shivered as the cold blast hit her. "A little warning next time, mom. Surprised my food didn't freeze."

"My bad. This house is just built weird." Summer set her bags on the table across from Yang. "I stopped at a grocery store on the way back. Got a bunch of 'necessities.'"

Yang looked at Summer and cocked her head. "Huh?"

Summer smirked, then pointed at one of the bags. "Don't tell Ruby about the strawberries," she whispered. "I want to see the look on her face."

"Oh." Yang looked down the stairs to her left. "Good thing she has her headset on. She might have pushed one of us through the wall."

"I've got a few more things out in the car. Could you help me out?"

"Sure thing. I'll grab my jacket." Yang stood up and walked over to the coat rack.

Suddenly a scream from Ruby filtered up the stairs. Summer was a second away from running down there when, "Smoker's got me!" Ruby yelled. "Kill it! Kill it!"

Summer blinked, twice then looked at Yang. Her daughter had a large smirk on her face. "It's just a game Fred introduced her to," Yang said. "She really gets into it."

"The two of you are like that for every game," Weiss called from another room. "It gets annoying really fast."

"They get that from me," Summer called back. She turned to Yang again. "You good?"

"After you." Yang opened the door and gestured outside. Summer walked out ahead of her and popped the trunk from just outside. "So you're a gamer, huh?"

"When I can be." Summer shrugged. "I don't have my rig with me though. I'm sure you saw it when you were in my apartment."

"That thing? That doorstop couldn't run a word processor."

Summer smirked. "I saved money on the case, not what's inside. That beast can run Crysis at max graphics without dropping frames."

"Uh, Crysis?"

"Sorry. Crysis is one of the most system taxing game series out there. Sure, the newest one's getting old, but it's still a pain to run."

"Nice." Yang opened the trunk fully and her eyes lit up. "You didn't!"

"I did. Hopefully the crock pot here works."

Yang took one large slab of meat out of the trunk. "Dad tried to make roast beef like you did, but it was never the same."

"Tai? Cook? Don't make me laugh." Summer grabbed the large ham from the trunk, then closed it. "This is for Sunday night, by the way. I've tried to keep that tradition alive."

"Christmas is literally coming early this year. It's still four months away on Remnant."

"Lucky you." Summer sighed. "If you thought last minute shopping on Patch was difficult, it's absolutely crazy here, and I have to do it all tomorrow."

"I don't think you need to worry about it. I don't need anything, and Ruby's always been more of the giving type." Yang dipped her head. "The only thing on her list the first two years after you…disappeared was for you to come home."

Summer's heart warmed to know Ruby had taken so much from her, yet broke at the same time for leaving her little girls without a mom for so many years. "All the more reason to make this one memorable." She entered the house and immediately put her hunk of meat in the freezer. As Yang did the same, Summer walked downstairs to check on Ruby.

As expected, her little girl was staring at the computer monitor with a few lines of text scrolling up. "Yeah, a break sounds good," Ruby said into her headset. "I could use some water after that."

"Having fun?" Summer asked as Ruby took her headset off.

"Oh! Hi mom! Yeah, Fred and his friends are pretty cool. Well, after I asked them to stop making jokes about picking girls up off the side of the road anyway."

"College students. They're crazy everywhere." Summer reached into a pocket and removed several folded pieces of paper. "You might want to read these."

"What are they?" Ruby asked as she took them.

"Handwritten letters of apology from everyone who touched Crescent Rose. Any permanent damage your weapon may have sustained while in their care will be covered by the bureau."

"Oh, that was nice of them."

Summer turned around and made for the stairs. She stopped at the base and turned her head back. "By the way, Yang said you have a thing for strawberries." Ruby's head shot straight up, a huge smile on her face. "There's a few cartons on the table if you're int-"

A strong wind blew by Summer, leaving rose petals in its wake. She smiled. _Ruby_ is _fast._

The wind came back, and suddenly Ruby had her arms wrapped around Summer. "Fank you," she said with her mouth full.

Summer returned the hug. "Anytime, Gem." Ruby squeezed once more, then freed herself. She rushed back upstairs, most likely for more of the fruit. Summer followed her daughter, and saw both her girls sitting down at the kitchen table. One was eating strawberries like a maniac, the other was sneaking a hand toward an unopened carton.

Ruby snatched Yang's hand when it got within an inch of the strawberries. "Mine." She growled.

"Ruby," Summer half scolded, "share."

"But," Ruby put on a familiar puppy dog face, "they're my favorite."

Summer smirked. "I appreciate the effort, but I invented that face. It won't work on me. While I got them with you in mind, they're for everyone here."

Ruby sighed and Yang snickered. "Finally found someone other than Ozpin and Goodwitch that the Look doesn't affect."

"I can think of one other person it almost never worked on." Summer joined her daughters at the table. "How is Raven anyway. Neither of you have mentioned her."

Ruby paused mid bite and looked at Yang, who looked at the wall, away from Summer. "She's, uh, not exactly around."

Summer's heart dropped. "What? What happened to her?"

"How should I know?" Yang snapped. "She walked out on dad when I was three months old. You should know that. I haven't seen her since."

"Wait, she didn't come back after I disappeared?" Summer's eyes narrowed.

"Why would she? I obviously don't mean much to her."

Summer sighed. "I'm going to kill them all." She looked at Yang. "So Tai never told you the truth?"

Yang furrowed her eyebrows. "What truth? That _she's_ not my real mom."

Summer turned to Ruby. "Could you-"

"I'll go see if the guys are back online." Ruby hurriedly walked downstairs.

"Yang," Summer put a hand on her daughter's, "this may be hard for you to believe, but your mother loved you more than anything."

"She sure has a funny way of showing it," Yang scoffed.

"It's _because_ she loved you that she left." Summer paused. "Raven had history with the mafia in Vacuo, the good kind of history though. She helped the police there nearly wipe them out.

"Her actions put a target on her back, though. When she was pregnant with you, she stopped taking missions and stayed home. Even after you were born, she didn't go farther than Mountain Glen. Still, the mafia wanted revenge. They sent Raven an envelope full of pictures of the house on Patch." Summer swallowed. "You were in all of them."

Yang's mouth hung open and her eyes softened. "So, she left to protect me?"

"Yes, and she swore that she'd come back as soon as it was safe. I met up with her shortly before I…disappeared as you put it. She said she'd be able to come back a week later. I told her about my investigation into Merlot, and she promised that if something bad happened, she'd help look after you and Ruby." Summer looked down. "Raven wasn't one to break promises. I know she has her reasons, but it better be a damn good one."

"Either way, she has a lot of explaining to do." Yang crossed her arms. "I still don't see-"

"Blake!" Weiss suddenly yelled. Yang snapped her head around to look at the source of the outbreak.

Ruby appeared in a flash of rose petals at the top of the stairs. "What about…oh! That'll do it." She waved at Yang and Summer. "Come on! You have to see this."

Summer and Yang stood up and walked over to the living room. CNN was running the story of how Blake stopped a robbery. Summer saw the video when she was talking with her boss. Of course, the news just _had_ to show the part where bullets just bounced off Blake.

Ruby cheered when she saw Blake take down both robbers. Then everyone in the room froze when the officer entered the building and pointed his weapon at Blake. "What did she do wrong?" Weiss yelled. "Are all police here like that?"

"The good ones, yes." All eyes in the room turned to Summer. "I've been in his situation, here and back on Remnant. We don't know the full story when we arrive on scene. We see someone with a gun, we treat them as a hostile. That officer showed serious restraint after hearing those gunshots. CNN may or may not say it, but she was released on the scene, and now she's in the wind again."

"But we know where she is now," Ruby said. "We just need to get there to find her. And we can see if that Frisco place is as cool as Fred says it is."

"We may not even have to do the searching." Summer turned to Ruby. "What are some ways to get her attention. I can have the office near Dallas do something to get her attention."

Ruby smiled. "I can think of a few things."

* * *

 **For those of you who read my other fic, Raven's story sounds familiar doesn't it? And no, the Nevermores won't show up in any major way here. For those who haven't read my other fic, I frankly don't want Raven to be the terrible mom/person everyone thinks she is.**


	9. One Step Closer

**Hello, I'm back with this. Turns out I can't write more than one story at a time. But now that I'm finished with Act I of my main story, I can focus on this one for a bit. It actually feels better when I'm not having to focus on two at once.  
**

 **Few day time skip here only because I have no idea what Ruby and Yang would get for Christmas besides weapon parts or ammo…I'm very unoriginal when it comes to that.**

* * *

Blake tried to lay low ever since she stopped the robbers in that Seven Eleven. Unfortunately, with her face all over local television, she attracted attention just by walking around. A lot of people knew what she did, and a lot of those people thought she was some kind of 'superhero.'

She never liked attention. That feeling only grew after she left the White Fang. If that wasn't bad enough, after going to several libraries and 'Googling' things, Blake found out that there were _no Faunus at all_ where she was, and confirmed that she wasn't on Remnant.

That almost comforted Blake. She was free from the White Fang, free from the persecution that followed her all through her life. As long as she kept her bow on, she was part of the dominant race on 'Earth.' At the same time though, she still had no idea what to do, and there was still racism around. Over _skin color_ of all things.

 _Why do humans always have to make enemies?_ Blake thought to herself for the thousandth time since learning about it. At least there were a lot of people trying to bridge the gap. Some actions of one particular group concerned Blake though. Almost the whole time they were around, violence and riots were associated with them. That sounded eerily familiar.

Still, the racial problem wasn't her main concern at the moment. The first few days after Blake stopped the robbery, random people offered to pay for her food, but that dried up quickly. Now, she was back to picking up scraps and trying to figure out how to get to 'Minnesota' and to at least one of her teammates.

So far that day, it was just like any other at the Mall in Frisco. People's spirits weren't as high as they were before the recent holiday, but there was still plenty of people out shopping. Even though Blake had spent several days in the mall, she was still amazed by the sheer number of people.

A mall worker changing a bulletin board caught Blake's eye. From what she'd seen, those boards typically had advertisements for jobs and other opportunities in the area. If she was going to get any of the local currency legally, she might as well check the board out.

Blake approached the board as soon as the worker walked away. There were a few newer ads for fast food places that needed workers. Then there was a number for the local Grimm defense force. Whether that was official or just a bunch of locals teaming up, Blake couldn't guess. That could be a nice fallback if it paid anything.

Her eyes glanced over the other signs and posters until one of them caught her eyes. Blake looked down at the symbol on her thighs, then to the one on the poster. It was an exact match. Of course! Her face was all over the news! Why wouldn't her teammates know where she was?

Blake read through the ad. Apparently there was a room for rent on 2187 _Belladonna_ drive in Frisco. She had walked down that street in her wanderings, so she wouldn't have to ask for directions. The rest of the ad contained 'roommate compatibility' information, with several familiar words thrown in. _'Bumblebees_ come all the time.' _'Ladybug_ infestation cleared out recently.' Then there were the cat puns that Yang used when she wanted to get under Blake's skin.

Now knowing where she needed to go, Blake turned around and almost ran out of the mall. Unfortunately, the house was on the other side of the city. She had to cross who knew how many streets to get there. With people driving like madmen in the city, she couldn't just cut across the roads like she wanted to. If she wanted to get to her team without being noticed, she'd have to do things the long way.

As she got closer though, Blake thought it could be a trap. It might have been left over paranoia from back in Vale, but she couldn't shake the feeling. If she and at least Ruby were transported here, who was to say no one from the White Fang came through at some point?

But the desire to find her team overpowered that worry. Blake looked at the numbers on the cookie cutter houses to find her target. Seven houses down the street, she found the advertised address. She walked up the driveway to the front door. Blake took a breath and rang the doorbell. "Coming!" someone yelled from the inside.

Blake froze up. That voice didn't belong to anyone on her team. Her instincts screamed trap even more. She reached for Gambol Shroud, only to be reminded that her weapon was hidden over a mile away when she grasped open air.

Before she could go anywhere though, the door opened up. A woman she didn't know stood in the doorway. Her smile looked genuine, though the way she stood expressed discipline of some form. The woman's shirt confused and worried Blake even more. Black and white squares, like a chess board. That ticked 'Checkmate' off the list. This woman was either working with someone on her team, or knew them from less than legal means.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked kindly.

Blake hoped her concern didn't show on her face. "I saw an ad in the mall that there was a room for rent here, or am I at the wrong place?"

The woman blinked. "Stonebriar Centre, or another mall in the area?"

"Yes. I saw a worker put the ad up earlier today."

"Well they picked a rotten time to finally put that up." The woman shook her head. "My other roommate's in Austin for her family's Christmas celebration." She sighed, then waved Blake in. "Come on in. I'll try and get her on Skype."

Blake hesitantly entered the house and looked around. The house didn't look too different from what she was used to back in Vale, but this one had slightly more color. There was a large rifle in a cabinet by a larger television, but that looked like it was more for display than anything. There was also a small webcam on top of the television, but that could be easily blocked if need be. There weren't any clear weapons in the area.

"Have I seen you somewhere before?" the woman asked.

"Possibly." Blake shrugged. "I was on the news a few times."

The woman's eyes widened and she snapped her fingers. "That's where I've seen you before! You stopped that robbery! I still can't believe that footage isn't fake! What are you, Kryptonian?"

Blake blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"Kryptonian. You know, Superman? Or are you more of a Marvel person than DC?"

"I…don't watch either."

"Huh." The woman's excitement level dropped slightly. "Well, if you do end up renting the room, you'll end up watching them at some point." She took her phone out of her pocket. "Sorry, but I need to call my current roommate."

She stepped out of the large room and pushed a few buttons on the phone. A few seconds later, her voice carried through the house. "Hi Clara, it's Issy. You near a computer…Nothing that complex, just Skype. We have someone here for a roommate interview…Yeah, I know, rotten timing. Get this though, she's the one from that Seven Eleven!... I know, right?...Yeah, I'll get the TV hooked up." She came back into the room and put her phone back in her pocket. "Sorry if you heard all that. The acoustics in this place are either really good or really bad depending on your definition."

Blake sat down on a couch and practically sank into the cushions. The television slowly turned on, and showed an image of a white 's' surrounded by a blue background. "Now, we wait for Clara to call in."

The two of them didn't have to wait long. A ringing sound came from the television. A cursor moved onto the screen and hovered over an old fashioned phone icon. Something clicked and the screen changed.

The first thing Blake noticed about the person on screen were her silver eyes and red and black hair. The Faunus almost shot out of her seat. "Ruby?" As soon as the name left her lips, she realized the person wasn't her team leader. Her chin was a little too pointed, and her eyes were a little too far apart. Then there was the fact that she was too old to be Ruby.

"Not quite," the not-Ruby said with a smirk, that might as well have come off the fifteen-year-old. But again, the voice didn't fit Ruby.

"Did I just hear Blake?" another voice yelled on the other end. Blake's spirits lifted at the sound. Less than a second later, Ruby walked into the frame. The girl smiled, then disappeared in a flash of rose petals. "Guys! We found Blake!" The woman on the other end slid out of the way, and Ruby almost instantly took her place. "It's so good to see you again!"

Blake smiled as well. "It's good to see you to, Ruby. Did I hear that the others were there as well?"

"You know it!" Yang said as she appeared behind Ruby. "It's a little cold here, but we've have worse on Patch."

A hand pushed Yang to the side. "You'd never survive a winter in Atlas," Weiss said as she walked on screen. She looked at Blake and smile." "It's good to see you're alright."

"Likewise, but," Blake looked at the woman standing beside her, "how was this set up?"

The woman reached into a pocket and removed a badge. "Isabelle Jefferson, FBI. The woman you saw initially is Special Agent Clara Flowers. She's one of the few people on the planet who can kill Grimm like they're bugs."

Blake looked back to Ruby. "Why does she look so much like you."

Ruby's face lit up even more. She reached off screen and pulled the woman back into frame. "Blake, I'd like you to meet my mom."

"What?" Blake almost had to physically keep her jaw from hitting the floor. "But, I thought-"

"Nope!" Ruby interrupted while slightly bouncing. "She's been here the whole time!"

Ruby's mom smiled gave a small wave. "Hello. Your teammates have told me a lot about you. Sorry we couldn't be down there to greet you in person. We needed to find you as soon as possible in case you disappeared again. We're flying out tomorrow though."

"Wouldn't it be easier if I came to…wherever you are?"

"It would, buuuut," Clara reached both arm's out and grabbed one off of Ruby and Yang, "these two want to see what a football game is like after the person they initially stayed with couldn't stop talking about his college's team."

"Mom, really?" Yang yanked her arm back.

Ruby though used it to give her mom a quick hug before turning back to Blake. "Apparently that team is in a championship game in the city you're in. What better first experience than one that decides who's the best?"

"I've seen a few signs around the place." Blake turned to the FBI agent that was with her. "Do I have a time limit on this?"

Isabelle shook her head. "You're good until you're ready to be done or something interrupts the connection."

Blake nodded, then faced the screen. "So where did the three of you arrive."

"Oh, uhhh," Ruby looked down and rubbed the back of her neck and Weiss completely turned away.

"Did I say something wrong?" Blake almost never saw her teammates act like that before.

"I think we should save that for when we're in person." Clara's tone was gentle, yet left no room for an argument. "While this isn't a classified call, there are some things you just can't say over Skype."

Blake nodded, then returned her attention to her team. "So anything interesting happen that we _can_ talk about?"

* * *

Taiyang walked through one of the many ruins in Forever Fall. Normally, he wouldn't have cared about what was inside the old buildings. This time though, several crates and thick glass containers caught his attention. The building was too old for those things to be inside, and only a few of them had any dust coating. Most bore the symbol for Merlot Industries.

Of course, Qrow just _had_ to point out every single box that had the Schnee Dust Company logo on it. To him, it proved that the SDC was involved in more crooked business than the rest of the world realized, or that they couldn't protect their own assets. Winter was not amused.

Eventually, Taiyang had enough. He whirled on Qrow and punched him in the face. "Save it, Qrow! Neither of us care what you think about the SDC. We're looking for anything that could lead us to Merlot and bring the girls back. Instead of wasting your breath, why don't you do something useful, like scout ahead?"

Qrow scowled at his partner. "You think I don't know why we're here? Ruby and Yang are my family too. I'm just as concerned about them as you are."

"Then drop the attitude, and scout ahead. If any more of those androids are around, I want to know about it before they're on top of us." Taiyang turned back around and continued through the ruin. Only one set of footsteps followed him.

The Huntsman ducked into another room, filled with more empty crates. It was like the ruin was being used as a warehouse. Some crates in other parts of the building held Grimm of all sizes. They were mainly Creeps and Beowolves, but that wasn't what concerned him. They weren't disappearing. Grimm didn't survive in captivity for more than a few days. Winter hacked one of the cages and reported the Creep inside had been there for over two days. Somehow, Merlot found a way to capture Grimm without letting them kill themselves.

"What could they need with so many Grimm?" Taiyang asked himself, not expecting an answer.

"Originally, I would think that the capture of Grimm was for study.," Winter replied. Taiyang turned to see the Specialist inspecting one of the cages. "But the files we obtained at the facility speak otherwise. At this point, I think we have to assume Merlot Industries is plotting against at least one of the Kingdoms."

"But why? What could he have to gain?"

"This speculation is beyond my area of expertise." Winter stood up and moved to another corner of the room. "I will let those who are trained in the area decipher this."

Taiyang's scroll vibrated in a pocket. He immediately answered. "You got something, Qrow?"

" _Yeah, a pack of androids is heading right for ya. Get out of there!"_ The line clicked, and Taiyang swore under his breath.

"We got to go," Taiyang told Winter. "We're about to have company."

Winter drew her sword. "Androids?" Her question was answered by metal clanking coming from elsewhere in the ruin. "Don't engage unless you have to." She walked past Taiyang into the hall.

"Don't have to tell me twice." Taiyang armed his gauntlets and followed the specialist. The two Huntsmen ran away from the androids. If Merlot figured out they were there, it could blow the whole mission.

They ran out of the ruin and immediately made for the foliage. Taiyang looked back into the structure, waiting for any of the androids to show their metal faces. Luckily, none did. Whatever the androids wanted, it was in the ruin.

Their main path through now blocked, Taiyang and Winter circumnavigated the structure. The few Grimm that tried to get in their path were silently and quickly killed by Winter. No androids were along their path.

Taiyang didn't notice it before entering the ruin, but the sound of heavy machinery filled the air. Considering how far away from any settlement, that shouldn't have been possible.

A bush rustled to their right. Both Huntsmen faced the possible threat, but it turned out to be Qrow. "Were you spotted?" He asked.

"Not that I know of." Taiyang shook his head. "Thanks for the heads up."

"The fact that you broke radio silence could have given away our position." Winter crossed her arms.

Qrow scowled. "I don't have time to argue with you. A ship just came in that I have a feeling we need to be on."

"A ship?" Taiyang asked. "There's a dock way out here?"

"Yeah. Most of the machinery there is ancient, but as you can hear, it's working." Qrow turned and faced the direction he came from. "The ship has several shipping containers on top, and I can only guess more in the hold. Also, there are a few of those large Grimm cages we found in the ruin. I'm talking Deathstalker size, and one of them's bigger than that."

"A Nevermore?" Winter asked.

Qrow sighed. "I hope so. Otherwise…" He dropped to a crouch and looked over the top of a hill. Taiyang and Winter did the same. Just like Qrow said, a medium sized container ship moored in an almost ancient dock. Several green Grimm roamed around on land, ignoring the androids in the area.

One of the large crates was lifted off the ship. As soon as it touched down, two androids moved to either side of the door. They opened the crate, and a green Deathstalker scurried out. Again, the monster paid no mind to the androids that surrounded it.

"I'm starting to think you're right about the attack on one of the Kingdoms," Taiyang whispered to Winter.

"There's still the question of what's in the large crate in the center." Winter nodded at said crate.

Taiyang focused on it. Like Qrow said, it was overkill for a Deathstalker, unless several were piled up on top of each other. There was only one Grimm that Taiyang could think of that would need a cage that big. "Please don't be what I'm thinking…"

The door on the large cage swung open. The boat shook as something moved around inside. Two massive green tusks emerged from the crate, followed by the rest of a Goliath.

"Well, shit," Qrow muttered.

"How the hell did they capture a Goliath?" Taiyang asked no one in particular.

"If these Grimm are controlled by Merlot…" Winter let her thought hang.

"We need to warn Vale," Qrow and Taiyang said at the same time.

Winter quickly took her scroll out. "Before you say anything Qrow," she growled, "I'm sending a one-way burst transmission. Completely undetectable."

"No complaints here. I'm just hoping that thing goes down easy like those green Creeps we've fought and not the Beowolves."

"General Ironwood has been notified of the threat," Winter announced. "Now, about getting on that ship…"

"I can get on there easily enough," Qrow said. "Not sure about you two though."

"I'm sure I have more infiltration skill than you Qrow." Winter glared at the Huntsman.

"Sorry Winter, but I doubt that." Taiyang turned to Qrow. "Think you can find us a way in?"

Qrow nodded. "Give me five minutes." He shot forward into the trees below. Soon after, a single crow flew out of the canopy.

Taiyang looked at the ship. These Grimm and androids had to be made somewhere. If what he saw in the forest was any indication, that facility would be a tough nut to crack.

If it got his girls back though, he'd take on all of it by himself.

* * *

 **Not much happened here, but I promise, next chapter will be action packed.**

 **I'm sorry, but I have to say this after what happened last Saturday. (Deep breath)**

 **IOWA! SUCKS! CORN!**

 **CORN! SUCKS! IOWA!**

 **IOWA! CORN! SUCKS!**


	10. New Precedent

**Well, looks like reviews are broken again, so I won't be able to respond to any right away...**

 **Time for a little action.**

* * *

Taiyang ripped the head off an android, then used the machine's still active gun to mow down the mutated Beowolves that still stood. He heard a click, then pushed the disabled android forward. Then there were several more metal footsteps behind him. "Come on!" he yelled at the incoming squad. "I can do this all day!"

The red melee androids rushed Taiyang. Even with their superior numbers, they still posed little threat to the experienced Huntsman. He grabbed the staff of the leading android and tore it out of the machine's hands. Not giving the robot time to think, Taiyang plunged one end of the blade through the base of its skull. He then used the metal carcass as a 'human shield' as he fired his gauntlets at the rest of the squad. His low powered ranged weapons took a few shots to kill the androids, but they still did their job.

" _Kill him!"_ Doctor Merlot's voice frantically urged over the facility's intercom. _"Don't let him get close!"_

"Thank you for letting me know I'm going the right way!" Taiyang pushed his shield into the last android. Both fell to the ground, one on top of the other, He jumped as high as the ceiling would allow, then brought a fist down on the android on top of the pile. It traveled through both metal soldiers with ease.

Taiyang stood up and mockingly brushed off his shoulders. "Hopefully you made things a little more interesting for Qrow and Winter," he called, knowing Merlot would hear.

" _You…your friends are dead. You will join them soon."_

"Come on, you can lie better than that." Taiyang rounded a corner and punched the head off an android that was 'hiding' there. "To think with androids that Atlas would drool over, you'd be able to better defend this place. I haven't broken a sweat."

" _You haven't met my last line of defense."_

"I'm getting close, then. Thanks for the heads up. It's not like you've got Paladins." Taiyang stepped into a large room and the smirk disappeared off his face. They weren't Paladins, but three very large mechs stood in front of the far wall, behind two mutant Deathstalkers. "I had to open my mouth…"

All three of the mechs fired missiles at Taiyang. He waited until the last second before jumping away. The missiles tracked surprisingly well, but they still hit the floor and detonated. One of the two Deathstalkers moved to attack Taiyang. He stared it down and kept an eye on the Grimm's stinger. The creature lunged and swiped at Taiyang, but the Huntsman jumped over the attack.

As he was in the air, Taiyang saw one of the mechs fire another missile. As soon as he hit the ground, he dove under the Deathstalker. The missile hit the Grimm, and the creature screamed. Taiyang punched out one of the Grimm's legs as he crawled out from underneath it. The creature took another swipe at the Huntsman, but this one was much slower than before.

Taiyang finally saw the damage the missile did. Most of the armor on the top of the Grimm was completely shredded. The hole gave Taiyang an opening at the creature's relatively squishy flesh, unless that was mutated as well.

Before he could capitalize on the opening though, the other Deathstalker screeched. Taiyang faced it and saw several green projectiles flying at him. He dived out of the way as the 'needles' hit the floor. _Since when can Deathstalkers_ shoot? he thought to himself. That complicated things more than necessary.

Then again…Taiyang looked at all his opponents. The missiles for the mechs had already proven that they track targets fairly well. As shown with the Deathstalker though, they flew straight for their targets. All Taiyang needed to do was get close to the Deathstalkers and other mechs and they'd take care of each other.

Getting up close and personal was what Taiyang did best.

He ran over to the unharmed Deathstalker and bashed away one of its claws. The second claw hit though, and Taiyang flew backward. He heard the sound of a missile launch and jumped to his feet. Once again, he ran at the Grimm, this time jumping on its back. He tracked the missile, and jumped off the creature's back at the right moment. The missile curved, but still made contact with the Deathstalker's back.

Taiyang landed on the exposed skin and reached up for the now limping stinger. He grabbed it and threw the stinger into the creature's back. It buried in deep, but the Deathstalker still lived. Another missile soared through the air and Taiyang tracked it. Again, he jumped away at the right moment and the missile blew up right where the Grimm's armor was destroyed. That last hit made the creature fall dead.

That left one opponent down, one severely injured, and three at full strength. Taiyang ran toward one of the mechs. As he got closer, two of them opened up with minigun fire. The Huntsman avoided as much of it as he could, and his Aura took the rest. As expected, the third launched another missile. Taiyang slid under one of the mech's legs then jumped onto its back. He felt the explosion through the metal he clung to. The mech still stood, but it had to suffer a lot of damage.

Taiyang climbed over the mech's shoulder and looked down to inspect the damage. The entire front plating had been reduced to scrap and various wires and circuits sparked rapidly. The other two mechs held their fire. A Deathstalker's screech filled the air. The Huntsman looked at the source and saw several more 'needles' flying at him. He released his grip on the mech and fell behind it. All the 'needles' hit, and the mech fell backward. Taiyang barely got out from under it in time.

The last two mechs retracted their missile launchers and raised their miniguns instead. Apparently destroying one of their own finally triggered something that said 'don't shoot your allies.' With his missile tricking strategy finished, Taiyang dodged the Dust rounds as he tried to think of another plan. Those things could kill the Deathstalker, but they were probably smart enough not to openly shoot each other. He could punch his way through the mechs' armor, but that could take way to long and open himself up for another attack.

Seeing a chance to shrink the number of enemies to two, Taiyang ran at the Deathstalker. He slid underneath its claws and belly. The mechs never stopped firing, turning the Grimm into Mistrilian cheese.

The Huntsman shot back to his feet and faced the mechs. As he prepared to fight though, both machines lowered their weapons. _"Tai,"_ Qrow suddenly said over the facility intercom, _"Winter managed to hack into the main computer here. All androids here are now on our side."_

" _No!"_ Merlot yelled over the same speakers. _"This is impossible!"_

"Apparently it's completely possible," Taiyang returned. "Winter, where is the bastard."

" _Right through the door in front of you,"_ Winter responded. A small door behind the two standing mechs opened.

"Thank you." Taiyang cracked his knuckles and walked into the room. Only one other man was present, with four androids aiming their weapons at him. "Doctor Merlot, I presume?"

The man nodded. "I am."

Taiyang scowled. This was the man who caused him so much pain, the man who tore his family apart. The angry Huntsman closed the distance and slammed Merlot against a wall. "Summer Rose. Yang Xiao Long. Ruby Rose. Do those names mean any to you?"

"The first, yes," Merlot choked out. "She was poking around where she shouldn't have."

"She was serving a legal search warrant!" Taiyang slammed his prisoner into the wall again. "I've seen the files at your other facility. I know a bomb detonated leaving no trace of my daughters. For your sake, they better be alive on the other side." Merlot only glared, but he couldn't keep the slight fear out of his eyes.

A green light started flashing elsewhere in the room. Taiyang looked at it, then back to Merlot. "What does that mean?"

"A successful detonation. If I'm timing this right, a group in Forever Fall as traveled to the other side."

"That group with the Goliath?" Merlot just nodded. Taiyang hoped anyone on the other side would be able to fight that swarm.

* * *

"… _with the keeper. That's another Bison!"_

"First down! OooooOOOHHHH move those chains!" Fred clamped a hand over his mouth on pure reflex to avoid being accused of shouting the next part with the student section. After they finished their decidedly racist chant, Fred kissed both his hands and raised both sets of 'horns' as high as they would go.

This game was _intense._ The Bison and the Bearkats traded off the lead since the first ten minutes in the game. Right now, the Bearcats had a three point lead with just over a minute left in the game, though some of those points came after bullcrap penalties. Did _any_ FCS refs know what pass interference was? The Bison had the ball at the Bearcat's forty and had all their timeouts. There were already too many nail biter games already that year. Fred's heart did not need another one.

Then again, they did it two years ago with a similar amount of time. Why shouldn't history repeat itself?

The ball was snapped, and the quarterback fell into the pocket. Several receivers raced downfield. One of them was wide open. The ball was flung through the air sailing right for that receiver. The crowd slowly rose to their feet as the ball neared its target. Without turning around, the receiver caught the ball. The crowd exploded into cheers as he ran into the end zone, but quickly turned into boos as a flag was thrown.

"Flag!" Fred shouted as other members of the band raised their instruments for the supposed touchdown.

People continued booing as one of the refs made his way to midfield. "Pass interference. Offense." Anything else he said was drowned out by nearly fifteen thousand people screaming bloody murder.

"Open your eyes, ref!"

"You need some glasses?" Another trombone two seats down took theirs off. "You need them more than I do!" This jeering continued on until the offense got reset. As the play clock wound down, the play started. The quarterback threw a quick completion, but the receiver didn't make it five yards. The Bison quickly called a timeout.

"I swear, if we lose this over terrible calls..." Fred shook his head, then looked to his side. He nearly did a double take when he saw a familiar face. Ruby's mom looked up and gave Fred a small wave. Instead of her hood though, she wore a stadium security uniform. "Uh, guys," he turned back to his section, "you know that girl I picked up on the interstate?"

"Yeah, you pervert," Lexi joked. A few other bones laughed as well.

"Not funny…Well, her mom is here."

"Wait, her _FBI_ mom?" Rich asked. "Dude, you dun messed up."

"Apparently…" Fred looked back and saw the FBI agent practically running away while talking holding a phone to her ear. Probably just some drunk guy in the stadium and security needing backup.

An almost familiar sound started up. If this was Minnesota or North Dakota, Fred would think it was tornado sirens. There wasn't a cloud in the sky though, and Frisco was too close to Dallas for it to mean the work day was over. "Hey, Texas," Fred called to the trumpet from the area. "These tornado sirens?"

"Yeah," the guy shrugged. "Don't know why they're active now though. This is new to me."

Fred rolled his eyes then looked back to the field. It probably was some glitch in the system. Happened all the time in Fargo. For whatever reason, one of the Sousas shouted, "Omaha!" which set off a chain reaction through the rest of the low brass.

It all clicked at once for Fred. "Omaha…Shit!" He yanked the mouthpiece out of his trombone and frantically looked around the stadium.

None of the other bones noticed his actions though. "Whoa! Whoa! Fred just swore! Call the news!"

"Something wrong?" Ashley asked, finally seeing Fred's stance.

"The tornado sirens went off in Omaha…during a Grimm attack."

As if on cue, three Werewolves shot out of the tunnel.

* * *

Summer ended the call with her supervisor as she ran toward the security room at full tilt. Grimm were spotted a few miles north, and they were heading right for the city. Given the amount of animosity in the stadium, she had a pretty good idea of where they were heading. The tornado sirens sounded, but few people here would know what it meant in that situation.

Her security radio chirped to life. _"We got something in the tunnel. Sounds like a drunk guy lost his voice and somehow made it down here."_

Summer swiped the radio off her belt. "Do _not_ investigate unless you have some heavy firepower."

" _Who is this? What do you mean about…wait a second…oh shit. Oh shit! Werewolves!"_ Summer turned off her radio so people around her wouldn't scream. She looked back to the tunnel exit on the field. It wouldn't be long until those Beowolves made it to the field and really caused some havoc. There was not enough time to get to the security room and back before that happened. Not for the first time, she wished she didn't have to have line of sight to teleport.

Three Beowolves ran out onto the grass. Summer ran through the now dead silent crowd to the field. Hopefully her nine mil would be able to get their attention and keep them off the players.

Summer vaulted over the front railing and fired her first three shots. All connected with one Beowolf. As expected, the Grimm faced the Huntress and roared at her. Two more well placed shots tore down the creature's throat, killing it.

The other two charged at Summer. The Huntress focused fire on the eyes of the lead Beowolf. Three bullets widened the gap in the bone mask around the eye, and two more plunged straight through. Summer quickly changed the magazine, but the third Beowolf was practically on top of her. It lunged, its mouth wide open. The Huntress thrust her gun arm forward and into the Grimm's mouth. Her Aura kept her arm attached to her body and she fired several shots directly down the creature's throat. The Beowolf slid off her arm, showing the limb wasn't even scratched.

Summer looked at the refs on the field, trying to figure out which one had the mic. After a few seconds, she signaled him out. "You. I need your mic."

The referee back tracked slightly. "Ma'am, you can't be out on the field," he stuttered.

"Since you're obviously blind after those terrible calls, three _Werewolves_ just came onto the field, and I killed them. This is no longer a football game, this is a _fully fledged Grimm attack!_ So unless you want to be responsible for the lives of all the people in this stadium you will give me that mic."

The ref still hesitated a second before surrendering the mic. Summer signaled the box, hoping whoever was in charge of the stadium audio was paying attention. "Is this thing on?" Her voice echoed through the stadium. "If you have guns, grab 'em. There is a large horde of Grimm coming in from the north. We need all the firepower we can get. If you don't have weapons, head south. Do not head to your vehicles if you are not grabbing a weapon." Summer took a deep breath before relaying the next bit of information. "This is a Duluth level event."

Summer dropped the mic then ran toward the tunnel. There had to be more Grimm where those three came from. At best, ground troops from the National Guard were at least an hour out. All she had to work with at the moment were police and whatever militia formed out of the city. Normally, the militia wouldn't be that big, but this was Texas, and a few thousand people from North Dakota that probably traveled with their hunting rifles. Summer probably had a decent force to work with.

Her phone rang as she entered the tunnel. She quickly answered it. "You got something for me, Trevor?"

" _I just got off the phone with Frisco's police chief,"_ Trevor quickly responded. _"When he heard I had an agent in the city with Grimm combat in the city, he practically squealed. Congratulations Clara, you're now in charge of the defense of Frisco, Texas."_

"Tell me something I don't know." Summer found the body of the guard that most likely called in the attack. It wasn't a pretty sight. Summer just took the man's pistol and ammo and continued through the tunnel and outside the stadium. "What kind of air support can I expect?"

" _Air Force is redirecting an A-10 from Austin. ETA ten minutes. They're also sending F-16s and F-22s from various airfields, ETA on the first is thirty minutes."_

"What about to take down that Elephant?"

" _The closest AC-130 is an hour out. Whiteman airbase in Missouri is prepping a B-2, but that could take just as long, not including flight time."_

"I hate to ask, but does the Navy have anything that can hit this far inland?"

" _Working on that and satellite coverage right now."_

"Anything else you can tell me that I could use?"

" _The government would like to keep your abilities under wraps…but this is the first time one of you has been at the front of a Grimm attack in the US and Europe. No precedent has been set. Do what you need to."_

"Good. Patch police radio through to my phone. I need to get some kind of organized defense set up."

" _Will do. Good luck out there. Out."_ The line clicked and Summer put her phone back in a pocket.

The Huntress looked at the top of one of the busses and teleported up there. With the better vantage point, she looked around the area to see how many Grimm got in the area. Luckily, there weren't many Grimm in the area, all things considered. Summer teleported from car to car, dual-wielding pistols to kill each creature she stopped by.

Eventually she heard other gunshots accompany her own. A few police officers turned up and took shots at the approaching Grimm. Several people from the stadium also retrieved weapons from their cars. There weren't many Grimm at the moment, but this had to be the leading edge.

Summer made her way to her borrowed car and saw team RWBY waiting by it. She fished the keys out of a pocket and popped the trunk. The girls immediately opened it and grabbed their weapons. "What's a 'Duluth level event?'" Weiss asked as Summer approached.

"Bad. Duluth, Minnesota was destroyed by Grimm three years ago, the only American city to fall so far." Summer holstered her personal sidearm and retrieved Sun's Light from the trunk. "The city held out, until a Goliath showed up. It took a good portion of the Minnesota and Wisconsin National Guard to take it down."

"Something tells me they didn't have Huntresses to take it down, let alone five," Yang said as she armed her Gauntlets.

"Where do you need us?" Ruby asked as she loaded her scythe.

Summer turned to her youngest. In truth, she wanted her daughters as far away from Frisco as possible. She wanted them to leave with the rest of the evacuees. She wanted them in a nuclear bunker somewhere with the entire American military dug in above them. She wanted them back on Patch, which at the time she left, hadn't suffered a major Grimm attack in a decade.

But Ruby and Yang weren't her babies anymore. They were Huntresses, or training to be them anyway. They fought Grimm, and were apparently good at it. They defended Vale from a massive Grimm attack of its own. The determination in Ruby's eyes said she wasn't going anywhere until all Grimm were dead or the city was evacuated.

"We're going to be front line fighters until the Texas National Guard shows up." Summer looked over the young team. "We have the most experience against the Grimm, but then again, that's not saying much. We're going to push north past the soccer fields and hold a front line there until we get reinforcements." She paused. "I keep saying 'we,' but I'm going to need to hold back from the front for a bit and coordinate with the police and military. I'll still fight, but I expect each of you to have a higher kill count than me when this is over."

"Challenge accepted." Yang cracked her knuckles.

"Okay team!" Ruby yelled. "Let's do this!" The team ran north toward the sound of Grimm roars.

Summer watched them go for a second, then retrieved a headset from the glove compartment of the car. She used the Bluetooth feature to connect her phone. Almost immediately she heard chatter from the Frisco Police. None of them knew what was going on, and some were more worried about getting people out of the stadium safely.

The Huntress teleported to the top of a gatehouse to some of the soccer fields and looked north. She could see the Goliath on the other side of a department store, marching its way south. Grimm swarmed between buildings and across the empty fields that separated the sports park and commercial areas.

Some of them looked different though. Summer switched her weapon to its sniper mode and looked through the scope. Almost half the Creeps had green spikes on their backs. Some Beowolves had a similar condition. In fact, it looked like half the Grimm she could see had those green spikes, including the Goliath.

"That's new…" Summer took aim at one of the Creeps and fired. The shot connected, and the Grimm exploded shortly after, causing a small chain reaction among other Creeps. She aimed at one of the Beowolves and fired, expecting a similar reaction. Instead, the Grimm kept running as if the bullet didn't do anything. In fact, it took five bullets to the head to bring it down.

Summer looked at the oncoming horde. She needed to get the defense organized, fast. "Frisco police," she spoke into her headset, "this is FBI Special Agent Clara Flowers. I have been placed in charge of the city's defense until the National Guard shows up. Right now, the Grimm are focused on Toyota Stadium, and are moving in from the north. I need a defensive line set up on All Stars Ave, with a fallback line on Technology Dr. Be advised, the Dinos with the green spikes explode on death, and the Werewolved with a similar condition take more shots to bring them down."

There was a little more chatter, which was cut short by the chief of police himself. He made it clear what Summer said about the chain of command was true. Shortly after, police sirens blared behind her and a SWAT van and three police cruisers passed her perch on the left.

A high powered gunshot came from behind Summer. She turned around and saw Ruby fly up and land on the roof. "Hi mom," she said.

"Where's your team?"

"We cleared out the Grimm right outside the stadium. I ran ahead to see what we're dealing with." She looked out to the field. "That's a lot of Grimm."

"You're not scared, are you?"

Ruby dipped her head. "Maybe a little."

"Good. That's nothing to be ashamed of." Ruby looked at her mom, more than a little surprise on her face. "I've learned here that fear keeps you alive. That may seem counterproductive against Grimm, but it keeps them focused on you and away from civilians. Just don't let it control you."

"Got it." Ruby looked through the scope on her scythe. "These things are here too?"

"You've seen the green ones before?"

"Mountain Glen, right before we came here. Don't know where they came from. The Creeps die quickly though."

"With I could say the same for the Beowolves. One of them took five shots to the face before dropping. I can only guess on the others."

Ruby looked to the distance. "And that Goliath?"

Summer hesitated. "Air support can hopefully take care of it." Truth be told, the only way the air force would be able to take that thing down in time was if they used their planes as missiles. Still, Summer would make sure that Goliath would not make it to the first line of defense.

"Should we help the police set up their defenses?" Ruby dug her scythe into the roof of the building.

"You better catch up. I'm already on five kills since we last talked." Summer took aim at one of the green Dinos and fired. "Six."

"Only six? I've got ten." Ruby fired one shot, then smirked. "Thirteen."

"Oh, it's on!" Summer and Ruby fired downrange from their perch, killing the Grimm closest to the police line, then slowly moving back. When the rest of team RWBY arrived, Ruby joined them and they all passed the defensive line. Summer had to tell those on the line to let them through. When the three Huntresses engaged the Grimm, some of the police lowered their weapons and watched the brawl.

Even though Summer focused on killing Grimm and coordinating the defense, she couldn't stop herself from watching her daughters fight. Sure, they weren't professional, but they still tore through Grimm better than anyone on Earth could. Yang took several hits from Grimm, and Summer had to stop herself from immediately removing the offending creature's head. Her Semblance allowed her to get stronger with each hit. Still, Summer nearly had a panic attack when Yang got slammed across the field by an Ursa Major.

Then there was Ruby, diving into the horde without backing down. She developed a rhythm, bouncing between heavier targets and killing the smaller ones. If anything came within ten feet of her, it died. When Weiss was surrounded, Ruby was there in a flash to help defend her partner's flank. She was so efficient at killing Grimm, Summer wondered if she had in fact tapped into her other abilities.

A plane flew low and fast over the field. _"Vulture 1-8 to Frisco command. Looks like a shit show down there. Any place in particular you want me to hit?"_

Summer looked at the A-10 as it circled around. "Good to have you here, Vulture 1-8. If you could cut the tide of Grimm coming from the commercial area, that would help us out a fair bit. Unless the Air Force has developed a new type of missile that I don't know about, there's nothing you have that could put a dent on that Elephant. Don't waste the ammo until we get more reinforcements."

" _I copy, Frisco. Smoke or laser targeting will make my runs more effective."_

"I've served overseas. I know exactly what you need. Out" Summer switched her channel back to Frisco police. "Our air support is requesting smoke. We have anything that's long lasting?"

" _Nothing that can last over a minute or two, ma'am,"_ came an almost immediate response. _"We don't have the stuff that the military uses for this type of thing."_

"Copy that. I'll think of something." That something was currently out in the heart of the Grimm horde. Summer teleported to Weiss' side and impaled a green spiked Beowolf that was in the heiress' blind spot. The Grimm growled at Summer, that is until she activated her weapon's saw function. The Beowolf collapsed with a huge hole in its chest.

"When'd you get here?" Weiss asked.

"Just now." Summer faced the girl. "Can you create a smoke screen?"

"What do you mean?"

"The plane that just flew ahead needs a visual confirmation of where to shoot. A smokescreen's the best thing we have, or else we need a high powered laser to guide in missiles."

Weiss nodded. "I can do it, but I need time, Yang's help, and to be exactly where it's needed."

"Good, and right now, that's about halfway between here and…" Summer looked toward where the Goliath was. At first she didn't see it, then the back wall of the department store exploded outward. The giant Grimm walked through unscathed. "Well, halfway between here and that thing. Yang's this way." Summer and Weiss fought side by side again and tore through the Grimm on their way to Yang. Nothing that stood in their path lived for more than a few seconds.

Then they burst out the other side of the Grimm. The good thing was, there shouldn't have been another side of the Grimm. There were a few stragglers, but that was it, beside the still large horde behind them. For whatever reason, most Grimm attacks on Earth came in one wave, and then just stopped. This appeared to be one of those attacks.

Summer looked up and teleported. Her heightened position allowed her to see the battlefield in its entirety. Most of the Grimm were concentrated in one area, and were being decimated by the police and militia line, and the five Huntresses. It wouldn't be long until the only Grimm left in the attack was the Goliath.

"Maybe we don't need an airstrike..." Summer mumbled. "This looks like a nice pincer." She fell back to the ground, and sliced the stinger off a Deathstalker that was threatening Yang. The stinger fell onto the scorpion's back and dug itself in. "Yang, hit it!"

"On it." Yang fired her gauntlets behind her and launched up in the air. She came down on top of the detached stinger and punched it through the Grimm.

Summer smirked. "Both you and Ruby took my recoil idea."

"Well, it works." Yang shrugged. "Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all." Summer turned to face the horde of Grimm. "Now about these pests…"

"Spread out, or go down the middle?" Weiss asked.

"Spread out, but try not to lose sight of each other. Hopefully the defensive line is smart enough to not shoot us." Summer ran forward and stabbed an Ursa Major through the back. She practically danced her way through the horde, and the only things that caused her to backstop were the Creeps that exploded in death. Even a green Deathstalker that stepped in her path was brought down with Sun's Light's saw mode.

The A-10 flew over the field again. _"Frisco, 1-8. I'm not seeing any smoke, but I'm not seeing many Grimm either. Do my orders still stand?"_

"Negative," Summer returned as she watched the fighter again. "Stay on station to assist in killing the Elephant. I have a plan to take this thing down without air support, but it's a long shot, and the only way to save a good chunk of the city."

" _Copy that, Frisco. Fingers crossed I'm just wasting gas up here. Out."_

"Does your plan involve us?" Ruby asked. Summer turned to see her youngest glaring at the Goliath. The rest of her team stood nearby.

Blake shook her head. "I don't think anything we have can touch that thing."

"Blake's right." Summer took a deep breath. "I'm the only one this plan involves."

All eyes turned to the experienced Huntress. "Uh, mom?"

"Don't worry, Ruby." Summer winked at her daughter. "You might want to pay attention. You'll be able to do this someday too." She walked forward and faced the Goliath. She felt her daughters' and their teammates' eyes on her back. Of course they'd be confused. Goliaths were some of the strongest Grimm out there, and it normally took a team of experienced Huntsmen to take them down.

Then again, there were only a handful of Huntsmen like Summer on Remnant, and they didn't broadcast it to the general public.

Summer let her Aura flow through her eyes. The ground around her brightened slightly. Several weak spots on the massive Grimm shone for only Summer to see. The Goliath stopped in its tracks and flipped its trunk between its legs. "Good, you know what I am," Summer said happily. The Goliath took a few steps backward. "I'd tell you to tell your friends that Earth is off limits, but you won't get the chance."

The Huntress let her unique Aura flow into her sword before looking at the Goliath's head. She teleported up and drove her sword into the creature's neck. Without the Aura enhancement, the blade wouldn't have even scratched the surface. Now it was buried to the hilt. Summer withdrew her sword at an angle, and sliced a huge hole in the Goliaths neck.

She looked back toward one of the sickly green spikes. Summer teleported over to it and sliced it off at the base. She grabbed it with one hand, and it felt as light as a pebble. Looking at the back of the creature's head, Summer threw the spike at the base of the Goliath's skull. It buried itself most of the way in, but didn't travel all the way through like Summer hoped.

Instead, Summer ran along the creature's back, dragging Sun's Light behind her. The Goliath trembled as its back was sliced open. The Huntress jumped over the creature's head and drove her sword into the Grimm's bone mask, right beside the right eye. Summer found purchase for her feet then waved in front of the creature's eye. "Hello there!" She withdrew her sword, then impaled the Goliath's eye.

Without missing a beat, she switched her weapon to its sniper form. The blade spun around, causing even more damage. Summer finished the job by pulling the trigger, sending one of her experimental Grimm killing bullets. She emptied an entire magazine into the creatures head. The Goliath roared, then started falling to its side. Summer removed her sword then teleported to the ground in front of the Grimm.

The Goliath hit the dirt and Summer stopped the extra Aura flow. She swayed on her feet as she finally felt the energy drain. She hadn't needed to use that since she arrived on Earth, and practicing on smaller Grimm was almost counterproductive. Even Deathstalkers weren't worth it. Still, it was her energy and secret or possibly have even more people lose everything before the Air Force arrived.

"Frisco to Vulture 1-8, Elephant is down. The ground is looking clear. If there's any of them left, they're stragglers for police and ground pounders to take care of."

" _I copy, Frisco. Don't know how you did it, but I have a feeling you won't have to pay for drinks tonight."_

"In more ways than one, 1-8. Safe skies. Frisco out." Summer turned around and walked toward team RWBY. All four girls looked at Summer with their jaws dropped. Again, the reaction was expected. "What happened? Ironman fly by?"

"M-mom?" Ruby stammered. "H-How did you do that?"

Summer smirked. "Without giving too much away, it has something to do with your eyes."

* * *

 **Yep. My take on the silver eye warriors, or whatever they'll be officially called. It will probably all be debunked two episodes into Volume 4 though.  
**


	11. Because Science

**I should have learned long ago never to leave time predictions...I swear, there are more plot holes in this thing than potholes on a Minnesota road...It's getting really tiring to fill them all in a somewhat sane way. That's slowed me down with this one again, and with the sequel to my main story starting to be uploaded tomorrow, I'll be focusing in on that. This story will likely go the way of uploading when I get inspiration.  
**

 **On a slightly happier note, we're only a few hours away from the Volume 4 trailer! HYPE!**

* * *

Taiyang sat at his home alone. Only a few weeks ago, it wouldn't have mattered if he was the only ones there. His girls were at Beacon, protected by some of the best Huntsmen he knew. Now though, they were missing in action if the files recovered from Merlot were to be believed. If not…

He looked at the stack of papers he needed to grade. Thankfully an old friend covered his position at Signal when he was hunting Merlot. Of course, the day Taiyang returned was one he scheduled a test for. At least he didn't have to go through several page papers and just had to look off an answer key. It was relatively easy work that didn't require much thought. Still, the monotonous work took all of Taiyang's concentration.

Atlas had Merlot's facility for almost a week now. What was taking them so long to go through everything? Winter proved she could sift through pages of files and pick out important pieces of information in a few seconds. Atlas had to have more people like her. Couldn't they find anything that could possibly get his girls back?

The Huntsman leaned back in his chair and turned to the holographic screen. The news was covering Amity Colosseum's crossing from its dock in Vacuo to Vale. Ruby and Yang were supposed to be in the tournament, but since they disappeared, a third year team took their place. Taiyang allowed himself a small laugh at the thought. His girls were good if they could beat out a third year team in the rankings.

Still, it was a brutal reminder that Ruby and Yang wouldn't be there. Ruby dreamed about competing in the tournament her whole life. She wanted to be like her mother and win the whole thing. Of course, Yang wanted the same thing. If either of them was the last Huntress standing, there was no doubt in Taiyang's mind that the other wouldn't be disappointed.

Taiyang heard the front door open, and for the briefest second, he thought it could be one of his girls dropping in to say hi, then reality set in and he realized that couldn't be. "Hey Tai, you here?" Qrow called.

"In my office," Taiyang called. "Just grading tests."

"Oh, not fun." Seconds later Qrow entered the room, accompanied by Zwei. "How ya feeling?"

"About as good as expected." Taiyang looked up at his partner. For whatever reason, Qrow had a large backpack strapped around his arms. "You hear anything?"

Qrow shook his scroll a little. "I got more than a little something. A contact in Atlas slipped me some files that I think you'll want to see."

Taiyang crossed his arms. "So, it's technically not legal."

"Well, yeah. But I still think you should see what I have."

Taiyang sighed. "Alright, but if Atlas comes for me, I'm blaming you. Who'd you get this from anyway?"

"Believe it or not, the Ice Queen."

"Winter?" Taiyang blinked. "She's so by the book. That's not like her."

"That's what I thought too, until she told me to bring her sister back. And here I thought all she cared about was her job." Qrow handed his scroll over.

Taiyang took it and hesitated. If Winter really was the source of the leak, it was either really important, or something that was so insignificant it didn't matter to anyone up top. Either way Qrow seemed to think it was important, and that was enough for Tai.

He hit a button on the screen and a single video file appeared. "Should there only be one thing here?"

Qrow nodded. "It's enough." He took the backpack off his back.

"Okay." Taiyang started the video. The screen showed a large, plain white room. A metal cart could be seen at the bottom. The top right corner had a countdown timer. Something off screen opened a door, then shut it just as quickly.

" _Hmm, what's this?"_ an all too familiar voice asked.

Taiyang froze up and gave the scroll his undivided attention. "Summer?"

Sure enough the missing Huntress came on screen. She froze up almost immediately. _"Oh no."_ She turned around and ran back in the direction she came from. Two seconds later, she sound of an explosion played. The video cut to back, but the timer began counting up.

After ten seconds, the video came back. The camera was on its side, and it looked like it was in a forest of some kind. At first there was only the sounds of nature. Then someone groaned off camera. _"Okay, I'm not dead,"_ Summer moaned. _"Where am I?"_ She wandered on screen holding her scroll. She hit several things on it, growing more rapid and frantic by the second.

Then she turned around and looked right at the camera. _"This thing survived?"_ Summer walked toward the camera and knelt down right in front of it. She righted it and looked at the camera with a confused face. Taiyang had to stop himself from stroking a finger across his wife's face. Summer tinkered with something under the camera.

" _Unauthorized access detected,"_ a mechanical voice said. Summer's eyes widened. _"Self-detonation initiated."_ The Huntress turned around and disappeared in a flash of rose petals. _"Return in three. Two. One."_ Again, the screen went black, then showed the sky. The camera slowly tilted down and crashed into something rocky. There, the video cut out for real.

Taiyang shakily set Qrow's scroll down on his desk. "She's alive…she's alive."

"That," Qrow spoke up, "you would have gotten eventually anyway. Winter told me a few more things that she couldn't get me copies of."

"Do they have proof that Ruby and Yang are alive?" Taiyang looked at his partner, suddenly feeling hope for the first time in years.

Qrow shook his head. "The only thing Winter said regarding them was that Merlot was testing a 'scatter bomb' when the girls went missing. Results were inconclusive due to the explosion occurring outside the intended area.

"She only told me three more things." Qrow reached into his backpack, and took out two small…bombs. "Yellow gets you there, green gets you back, and Atlas has no idea these two exist."

Taiyang practically exploded out of his chair. "She expected you to go?"

"Maybe, but they're your kids and wife. I'll hold down the fort here while you're gone."

"Thanks Qrow." Taiyang took the bombs from his partner and replaced them in the backpack. "Word of advice, be sober when I come back with Summer. Otherwise she'll hand you your ass on a silver platter."

"Don't I know it." Qrow rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't recommend you doing it here though. Don't want to take the whole house with ya." He left the room, and Taiyang heard the front door open and close again.

Taiyang looked at all the spare space in the backpack. He didn't know where he'd end up, or even if there was and sort of civilization where his family was. He needed to take provisions just in case.

As he ran across the house, he thought about what exactly he was getting himself into. He had no idea of how to find his family. But they were there. At least Summer was alive when she got there. She knew how to survive in the wilderness. Ruby and Yang had to have a similar chance.

With a few days' worth of food and water stuffed into the backpack, Taiyang grabbed his gauntlets and ran outside his house. He removed the yellow bomb and pressed the only button on it. A ten second countdown timer appeared. He tossed it a few feet in front of him.

As he waited for the timer to count down, Taiyang realized how crazy the situation was. He was standing five feet away from a literal ticking time bomb, and it was about to blow up in his front yard. If Qrow and Winter were wrong about these things, he'd probably be dead. And this was the only hope of seeing his family again?

It was worth the risk.

The bomb exploded and Taiyang felt himself falling backward. He couldn't see anything or hear anything. _I'm not dead. The camera took a little while between places. Just find the girls._

Suddenly Taiyang saw sky, then felt his back hit water. He was fully submerged for a few seconds, then burst out of the water. The water was freezing, but it could have been worse. He looked all around himself, but no land was in sight. "Okay, this is not good…" Taiyang picked a direction and started swimming, hoping he didn't pick the wrong direction.

He lost track of how long he swam, but he never once saw land. There many birds either, but the ones that flew overhead moved in the same direction as the Huntsman. Either these waters didn't have Grimm, or they were staying away.

Finally, Taiyang saw something on the horizon. He swam for it with all possible speed. Even though he was in good shape, his arms and legs still burned from all the exertion. Eventually, the outline of a ship made itself visible. Whatever it was, it didn't look military. Hopefully someone on board would see him, or hear him. He shouted at the ship as loud as he could, but it still felt it wasn't enough.

As he got closer, Taiyang saw people lining up on the deck. One of the lifeboats on the side started lowering into the water. The Huntsman changed directions slightly and swam toward that. A few lifesavers were thrown overboard, and Taiyang grabbed one of them as it floated close. From there, he let the lifeboat do the rest of the work. He was exhausted, and welcomed the extra support.

A door on the side of the lifeboat opened up. Two men leaned out the side, one of them with a long hook. Taiyang grabbed onto the hook as soon as he could reach it. The two sailors pulled the Huntsman toward the lifeboat, and pulled him inside. Taiyang was immediately wrapped in a blanket. "Sir, can you hear me?" one of the sailors asked.

"Yeah, loud and clear." Taiyang's voice was hoarser than he expected.

The sailor that asked the question turned around. "Contact the ship. We have him on board." He turned back to Taiyang. "Sir, what's your name?"

"Taiyang Xiao Long." He pulled the blanket tighter around himself. "Thanks for the rescue."

"Don't mention it." The sailor nodded. "Believe it or not, the you're not the first person the ship's picked up."

Taiyang blinked. _One of mine?_ "What ship's that."

"I'm pretty sure you'll hear the same on deck, but welcome to the Disney Magic."

* * *

Ruby practically sat on her mother's lap as they ate in an Applebee's in Frisco. She still couldn't believe her mom took down a _Goliath_ all by herself without breaking a sweat! And she was supposed to be able to do the same? That was definitely the highlight of the week.

Or, it would have been if she didn't see what she saw when hunting down stragglers. Her team searched the area directly north of the main battle field. To put it in a few words, it was a mess. If it was just the destruction of the city, Ruby wouldn't have minded. But…there were a lot of bodies… Young, old, men, women, children…Ruby lost her lunch a few times while searching. She wasn't the only one either. Her team was sent out of the area after her whole team emptied their stomachs at least once.

After the initial shock passed and Ruby had time to process all of it, it made her more determined to fight the Grimm. Sure, Earth didn't have as many Huntsmen or as much experience fighting Grimm as Remnant, but there were places outside the Kingdoms that couldn't fight for themselves. People needed protection against the Grimm, and Ruby was willing to fill that role.

For the time being though, she was content to spend time with her family and friends. People were finally let back into the city, after the military cleared the city. A large chunk of people just returned to get their vehicles and head home. Others stood around looking at the damage. News stations ambushed 'Agent Clara Flowers' before the general public was allowed back in the city. She never said how she took down the Goliath though, something about no one able to believe it unless they saw it. Ruby saw it and she had a hard time believing it.

At least Fred and his cousin made it out of the city okay. Ruby had her mom get a hold of him when things calmed down. They apparently got moved to their hotels the next city over during the evacuation. He helped Ruby when she was in trouble, and she was glad to return the favor.

Thinking about him made something a lot less serious come to mind. "So what's going to happen to that game now?" Ruby asked.

"I…honestly don't know," her mom said. "This was the first major sporting event that I can think of that's been disrupted, and championship games have to be run to completion. The game might go to the Bearkats because they had the lead when the Grimm attacked, but…I don't know college sports enough."

"Hopefully it doesn't end up like that." Yang leaned on the table. "Those Bison fans were fun to be around."

"Those who weren't drop dead drunk anyway," Blake chipped in. "There were too many of those for my tastes."

"Point there…" Yang shivered. "Still surprised I didn't get in more trouble for knocking that guy out."

"Are you?" Summer asked with a smirk on her face. "That guy's lucky I didn't see that."

Weiss crossed her arms. "I just wanted to get out of there. Those people were insane."

"One of those people huh?" Summer shifted her smirk to Weiss.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You go to a game and expect it to be like a theater, and not like a few thousand people screaming their heads off. I've run into a lot of people like that at Eagles games."

"Like I would pay money in the future to see men chase each other over a ball."

"Come on Weiss, you know the game was fun." Ruby looked up at one of the TVs. One of them had a headline saying 'Grimm Overwhelm Kabul.' "Hey mom, where's Kabul?"

"Where did you…oh." Her mom looked to the TV. Her smirk disappeared. "Well, it's the capital of Afghanistan, or at least it was."

"'Was?'" Blake asked.

"Grimm appeared there in May last year. With everything going wrong there, Grimm spread like wildfire. Their armed forces couldn't do anything, and the…less than respected militant groups in the area fled to Africa. I'm honestly surprised Kabul lasted as long as it did."

There was silence at the table. "Why haven't we heard about this before?" Weiss asked.

Summer rolled her eyes. "The national news networks in America are terrible. Fox news takes most of the heat, but they all have the same basic problems. They only show things that get views, and only in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Japan. Most of its bad news or the extremes of one side of a major issue. They cover Grimm attacks around the world when they happen, and if the country falls." She nodded at the TV. "Guess which one this is."

Ruby looked at the screen and watched several 'helicopters' fly away from a large, burning building. "How many have fallen?"

"Somalia was first in 2009, and since then Grimm have spread into neighboring countries, but those are still active. North Korea was overrun in 2011, but South Korean and American forces managed to retake it in 2013. A few countries have strong Grimm presences, like the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico."

"Why don't they use…what are they called…" Yang snapped her fingers a few times. "Nuclear missiles? Won't that clear out the Grimm."

"Them, and make the land unlivable for decades, if its ever livable again." Summer shook her head. "We just need more Huntsmen. Heck, I wouldn't mind seeing an Atlas airship escorting a battalion of tanks."

"But Remnant doesn't have anything to spare," Blake said. "We're holding on, but the amount of Huntsmen that would be needed to retake countries would leave the kingdoms open to attack."

"At the same time," Summer continued, "there are many things that Earth has that can't be beat on Remnant, mainly, the insanely large population here."

"Should we really be talking about this in a crowded place?" Weiss asked.

"Have you ever been to one of these restaurants Weiss?" Yang turned to the heiress. "It's either too loud for people to hear what's being said, don't care, or are smart enough not to listen in."

"People are going to be saying we're the Avengers in real life anyway. Might as well humor them." Summer took a sip of her water.

"I'm not worried." Ruby shook her head. "It'll just be like what happened after we defended Vale." The TV with the news about Kabul changed to a rescue at sea. "Have any sea faring Grimm been seen yet?"

"Nothing confirmed. A few fishing boats have reported seeing a Kraken or a Sharak, but nothing's been con…" Summer gasped.

Ruby looked up at her mom. "Uh, mom?" Her eyes were wide and glossy, and her jaw hung slack. Ruby followed her gaze and saw what caused it. "Dad?"

Yang whipped around and searched the restaurant, then also looked up at the TV. "Whoa, how'd he get here?"

"Same way we did?" Ruby offered. She couldn't believe it either. If it had something to do with her mission, it kind of made sense. Her dad could have been caught up in the same type of explosion.

"Wait, your _dad's_ here now?" Weiss looked over at Ruby, then at the TV. "Well, I guess having more Huntsmen here is a good thing."

Summer pushed Ruby away slightly. "Sorry, I need my phone." She grabbed said phone from a pocket and quickly a single button. A few seconds later, "Trevor, get me the number for the Disney Magic. The man they just picked up is my husband."

* * *

Taiyang sat in his stateroom, looking out at the ocean, or a convincing imitation anyway. He was given an interior room on the ship, as it was one of the few left open. Wherever he was, he at least wasn't dead. He never heard of a cruise ship called the 'Disney Magic,' but that was kind of expected. If Summer was anywhere on Remnant, alive, there was nothing that would have stopped her from coming home.

Luckily, the people on the ship didn't search his bag. If they did, they probably wouldn't like finding a bomb on a ship filled with families. They didn't seem to think his gauntlets were a weapon either. Apparently someone was supposed to come interview him to find out where he came from. He had until then to come up with a cover story.

A ringing sound started in his room. He looked around for it and his eyes settled on an old home scroll. Taiyang figured that the interview would be in person, but he could work it.

He picked up the wired scroll. "Hello?" There was a lot of noise on the other side, several voices, but none of it was focused enough to be the person on the other side. "Hello?" Taiyang now heard heavy breathing on the other side. "Is everything alright over there?"

"… _Yes. More than alright,"_ the other side finally responded. Taiyang froze up. _"It's good to hear your voice, Fireball."_

Now Taiyang couldn't find any words. It had been so many years, yet he could never forget that voice. "Summer?"

* * *

 **Yep. So close to bringing the whole family back together. And right now, it's looking like this is closer to the end than the beginning.**


	12. Reunion

**Hey! This is back! And we're officially past the start date for this fic, which in my head was last Saturday.** **If there was any doubt that this fic could possibly happen, both teams mentioned in the championship game were on the same side of the bracket, and neither of them are going to Texas...I'm a little disappointed, but JMU just played better.**

 **Yeah, I couldn't focus on two fics at the same time while keeping up with school. I had to choose one.  
**

* * *

Taiyang walked with the massive crowd of people disembarking the ship. They recently docked in…some place that started with an 'F'. He apparently had people waiting for him on shore, or at least that's what Summer said.

The Huntsman couldn't hold back a laugh. Summer. She was alive. After thirteen long years, Taiyang heard her voice. Both of their girls were with her. It wouldn't be much longer until they had a major, probably tear-filled family reunion.

Despite this, Taiyang couldn't just rush out and find his family. For one, the line to get off the ship was a mile long. Another, Summer filled him in on a cover story for his appearance that he needed to get right. Apparently, his fishing boat, the _Sea Dragon,_ was attacked by a 'Condor,' which Summer explained to be a Nevermore. He was the only survivor that he knew of. He'd been adrift for three days before being rescued by the cruise ship. The 'FBI' would take care of anything that required a paper trail, and one lucky Air Force pilot would get an extra kill added to his count.

Somehow, the crew of the _Magic_ never checked his backpack. Not only was the green Dust pipe bomb in plain sight, but he kept his gauntlets in there as well. Considering he hadn't seen a weapon anywhere on the ship, they probably wouldn't like a couple of spiked gauntlets with guns built into them. Either they didn't expect castaways to be armed, or Summer had something to do with it.

Taiyang looked off the side of the ship at the crowd below. Most people dispersed down various side streets once they left the pier. A few hung around just off the ship having reunions of their own. Taiyang didn't pay attention to any of those. He searched the crowd for a girl with long blonde hair. Yang was supposed to meet him here somewhere. Summer didn't say why only her.

It took a while, but he finally spotted her near the road. Yang stood by some sort of black truck. Taiyang sighed in relief. There was definitely a time when he thought he'd never see _any_ of his family again. Now…Why couldn't people move faster?

After way too long, Taiyang finally made it off the ship. Summer said to expect news crews to be bombarding him with questions as soon as he left, but at the moment, he saw no reporters. The only thing he had to compete with was the sea of people. A few of them cast glances his way, but none approached him. News of picking up the castaway must have spread.

Taiyang made it to the street quickly compared to getting off the ship. He caught sight of his oldest daughter again through a few more people, but she hadn't seen him yet. Yang stood on her toes looking over the crowd. Her head turned slowly from side to side, her eyes darting all over the place. The problem was, she never looked directly to her right. Taiyang didn't even try to hold back a smirk. "Looking for someone?"

Yang's head snapped to the side and her face lit up like the sun. "Dad!" She ran around several people to get to her dad. Taiyang gently pushed his way around a few others. They crashed into each other and began one of their back breaking hug competitions.

Then Taiyang remembered what was in his backpack. "Careful Yang, I've got some fragile stuff back here."

"Sorry." Yang pulled away, but her smile stayed in its place. "It's so good to see you again."

"Same." Taiyang felt a lump forming in his throat. "I never thought I was going to see you again."

Yang's smile faltered. "It was pretty scary for us too. We didn't know what was happening."

"Hopefully I can clear that up." Taiyang paused. "Why are you here alone anyway?"

"Not quite." Yang threw a thumb over her shoulder at the vehicle she stood by. "FBI's here. They needed a friendly and recognizable face and all that. They need a few questions answers or something along those lines. Everyone else is at a hotel nearby."

Taiyang stood slightly straighter. "Everyone?"

Yang nodded and her smile grew. "Everyone."

"Then let's get out of here before reporters find me. I never really liked them."

"Yeah, they're annoying." Yang rolled her eyes then walked back to the vehicle. She opened a door and slid inside. Taiyang followed right away. The vehicle's driver pulled onto the street as soon as the door closed.

Taiyang glanced at Yang. There was so much he wanted to know, but Summer made it sound like very few people knew where they were actually from, and it should stay that way. "So, what's happened since I've been gone?"

Yang's smile finally disappeared. "It was…bad. Ruby wound up in a snowstorm and was hospitalized, I had to sleep in an alley my first night here, Blake was lucky and ended up in Texas, Weiss…" Yang shivered, "she was in Iraq."

Taiyang felt his heart skip a beat when Yang said 'hospitalized.' But when Yang kept going, he thought Yang back be giving up too much. He glanced at the driver. There was no way he couldn't hear that. "Relax dad." Yang shook her head. "Mom read him in herself."

Again, a lump formed in Taiyang's throat. "Summer?"

Yang put on a small smile. "Yeah. It feels weird to say that, but so good."

"It feels good to hear it too." Taiyang nodded. "So where exactly were all of you?" Yang went on to explain her time in a place called 'New York City.' She said some things that were apparently on a government watch list, and got put in an apartment that apparently belonged to Summer. She found out about R'uby on the news. It turned out she saved someone in the 'Mall of America' and attracted national and international attention. The next day Yang was on a flight to 'Minnesota.'

Two days later, Weiss and Summer showed up at the place they were staying. "Of course, we were happy, but Weiss was…different." Yang looked at her feet. "Then again, I can't blame her."

"What happened?" Taiyang asked.

"She…" Yang shook her head. "It's not my place to say. Mom's managed to pull her out of her funk, but she's still not back to her normal self."

Taiyang took the hint. "You know, I worked with her sister to find all of you."

"Really?" Yang blinked. "Huh. Weiss doesn't talk about her family much. Winter's an Atlas Specialist, right?"

"Yeah. She's good. Her and Qrow had to force themselves to work together. They have a complicated history."

"How _is_ Uncle Qrow?"

Taiyang smirked. "He was sober for a full three days at one point."

Yang's jaw dropped. "Are we talking about the same Uncle Qrow here?"

"I'm surprised too, but it did happen." Taiyang paused. "What about Blake? How'd you find her?"

The car came to a stop. Taiyang looked out his window. It looked like they'd made it to the hotel. Some place called 'Holiday Inn.' He turned back to Yang. "Save that for another time. What room is it?"

Yang smiled and drew a keycard from a pocket. "203. Ruby was in the lobby when I left. She could still be there." She handed the keycard over.

"Thanks." Taiyang took the keycard and left the car. The doors to the lobby opened automatically, welcoming him in. He looked around the lobby, looking for a familiar red and black head of hair. Ruby was sitting with two others watching something on a TV. The word Discovery was in the bottom right corner of the screen. "Anything good, Rubes?"

Ruby looked up and her smile almost left her face. "Daddy!" She stood up and ran to him. Taiyang fell to a knee and welcomed his youngest into his arms. Ruby laughed over her dad's shoulder. "The family's back together."

"I suppose it is." Taiyang pulled back and looked Ruby over. "Are you okay? Yang said you were in the hospital."

"Pft. That was weeks ago. I'm fine." Her head sunk between her shoulders. "I do wish I had a winter coat on me at the time, though. I don't want that to happen again."

"No one does." Taiyang looked up at the two people Ruby was sitting with. He stood up and walked over to them. "So you must be Weiss and Blake. I hope my girls haven't been too much of a handful for you."

"Daaaaaad." Ruby grabbed Taiyang's arm and tried to pull him away.

Blake put on a small smile though Weiss looked a little confused. "We keep them in line," Blake said.

"Or try to anyway," Weiss said with fake annoyance. "They're loud, obnoxious, impulsive…and some of the best friends I've had."

"Really?" Taiyang looked down at Ruby and ruffled her hair. "Sounds about right."

"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!" Ruby pulled even harder. "Mom wants to talk to you! Don't keep her waiting."

"What? You've said you missed this when you were at Beacon." Taiyang freed his arm then started walking away. Ruby mumbled something he didn't catch as he rounded a corner.

As he walked, his carefree attitude melted away. He was only moments away from talking with Summer face to face. Thirteen years. So much had passed. Summer sounded happy to hear Taiyang's voice on the phone, but was there anything that happened here? Was she with someone else? Did she have another family? Taiyang mentally kicked himself. Summer wouldn't do those things. She was loyal to a fault.

Taiyang stopped in front of room 203. What would _she_ think of _him?_ He knew he changed so much since last time. Always worried over something or another. He didn't even want Ruby to go to Beacon early, just because he wanted her to stay close to home that much longer. Still, he was weak to the puppy dog face, and she deserved it more than anyone else.

After waiting for way too long outside the door, Taiyang waved the keycard in front of the door. He heard a click and he opened the door slowly.

A pure white cloak stood up on the far bed with the edges of a black combat skirt peeking out the bottom. The hood turned around, and the most beautiful pair of eyes Taiyang had ever seen looked back. Salty tear streaks hung off the edges of both silver orbs. Summer's jaw quivered. "Tai?"

Taiyang smiled and let the door close behind him. "Summer."

Summer jumped off the bed and rushed Taiyang. She crashed into him, wrapped her arms around him, and forced him to the door. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to leave. I wanted to come back from the beginning. I wanted to see our girls grow up. I wanted to stay with you. I…I…" Summer dissolved into a blubbering mess.

Taiyang felt his wife's tears start to wet his shirt. He held Summer close, slowly rubbing her back. "I don't blame you for any of this. There was nothing you could do."

Summer pushed herself off and pulled and arm back. She gently pressed that hand against Taiyang's chest. "Tai, I want you to know that I haven't dated anyone here. I haven't been with anyone else, for the night or otherwise. My boss originally showed interest, but I shut him down quickly. There were some creeps in the army-"

Taiyang pulled Summer's hood off her head. Her mouth didn't stop moving, but no words came out. Her eyes were begging for forgiveness. Taiyang smiled. "I never doubted you for a second."

Summer's shoulders relaxed, just before she stood on the tips of her toes to force her lips onto Taiyang's. He returned the kiss and brought a hand to the back of Summer's head. All of the tension from the past thirteen years drained out of him. He was back with his family. With his wife, who for the longest time he thought was dead.

Eventually, the two of them separated but kept their arms on each other's shoulders. Summer radiated absolute joy. "What are you doing here? Merlot get you too?"

Taiyang shook his head. "No. We got him." Summer blinked and half squinted an eye. "Qrow, Winter, and I took down Merlot. We won't have to deal with him again."

Summer failed to hold in a snort. "Qrow and Winter? I bet that didn't go well." She paused. "So, if you won why are you here?"

Taiyang moved a hand to the side of his wife's head. "I'm here to take you and the girls home." Summer's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Her legs shook beneath her. "This isn't a one-way thing. We can go back."

"Ho…how? There are others here. They've searched for years and haven't found anything!"

"They didn't have what I have." Taiyang shrugged a shoulder. Summer backed away a few steps so Taiyang could access his backpack. He pulled it off his shoulder and unzipped the main pouch. He pulled out the green bomb and Summer yelped. Taiyang looked up and saw his wife standing a few feet away with her eyes wide, but this time not from love. "Summer, it's okay. If this thing blew up, we'd be somewhere on Remnant."

Summer took a deep breath and sighed. "Sorry. I've just seen a few too many IEDs in the past few years." She paused. "So that thing can get us back?"

"Yeah..." Taiyang took a second to look I Summer over. She _never_ got scared around explosives before, and even built some of her own. What happened. "I don't know where, but it will bring us back to Remnant."

"…Home." Summer's expression changed from horror to hope as she stared at the pipe bomb. "How do you even have this?"

"Apparently these were recovered when we attacked Merlot's facility. They were using the same technology to send Grimm here. I'm not sure you've noticed."

"So that's where all the Grimm came from," Summer whispered. She shook her head. "Sorry. Grimm only started showing up a few years ago, never in particularly large numbers. We couldn't predict where. I guess I know why…So we shouldn't be seeing any more Grimm coming here?"

"Doctor Merlot is behind bars, along with anyone that still worked for him. Everything they had is in Atlas' hands. Atlas is a lot of things, but I don't think General Ironwood would sanction sending Grimm here."

"Wait, _James_ Ironwood?" Summer asked. Taiyang nodded. "Well good for him. I knew he could do it."

"Don't ever tell Qrow that." Taiyang shook his head. "There's a lot of bad blood between them now."

"I'll try and fix that when we get back." Summer sat on one of the beds and took out a different looking scroll. "Tai, I'm sorry, I need to call my boss. If we want to leave without the US government coming down on us, I need to tell them what's going on."

Taiyang blinked. "Wait, _you're_ working for the government?"

Summer rolled her eyes. "FBI hostage rescue and Army Grimm Extermination. I'm not really attached to them. I would have just as soon joined any other country's versions because that's the only way I could help people the way I can. There's no Huntsmen or Huntresses here. People here have Aura, but as far as I know, out of over seven billion people, no one has it unlocked. I know Qrow could unlock another person's, but I never could."

"Wait, seven _billion?"_

"There's a lot about Earth that I'm sure doesn't make sense to you." Summer pushed a few things on her stange scroll and brought it to her ear. She sat silent for a few seconds. "Trevor, it's Clara. We need to talk…What, we can't even talk over the phone now?" Summer brought a hand to her forehead and sighed. "Okay. I'm on my way." She pushed something on her scroll and put it back in a pocket.

"You're going somewhere?" Taiyang felt his heart sink.

Summer once again hugged her husband. "Believe me, there's nothing I want more than to go home with you. I want to see Patch, Beacon, Vale, all of it again. Peter, Barty, Ozpin, everyone. But I'm needed here too. They need Huntsmen and Huntresses to help clear out the places Grimm have taken over. I need to smooth things over for everyone else from Remnant that's here…I don't suppose Atlas can recreate that pipe bomb, can they?"

"I'm sure they'll come up with something a little more elegant than a bomb." Taiyang gently pushed himself away and kissed Summer's forehead. "I trust you to come back this time."

Summer pulled her head back slightly. "'This time?' You never did before?"

"Well, I had my suspicions." Taiyang smirked.

"You jerk!" Summer playfully pushed herself off, then walked to one of the suitcases on the floor. "Well on that note, while I haven't dated anyone since being here, but my bed has had someone else in it the past few weeks."

Taiyang's smirk disappeared. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah. Cute, on the shorter side, red-black hair, silver eyes." Summer smirked back. "I think you may know her actually."

The tension drained from Taiyang's shoulders. "Ruby?"

"She's very clingy. I suppose that's what happens when you're gone for most of someone's life."

Taiyang sighed. "Now who's the jerk?"

Summer cocked her head. "Hmmm, both of us?"

"I can live with that."

* * *

As Summer pulled into the unfamiliar building in Florida, she had to mentally and physically calm herself down. It wouldn't do her any favors being giddy as a school girl in front of her boss, especially in her work suit. She was certain at some point in the meeting she'd break down.

 _Home._ Summer leaned back in her car seat and let loose some of her joy. Her whole family was back together. It had been way too long since she seen Patch and that little cabin in the woods, if Tai still lived there. No more dealing with US politics, no more being tied down to a government agency, no more crippling loneliness.

Summer shook her head, trying to clear it. Better let it all out now than around other people. She left her agency car in the lot and walked through the front door, trying to keep a straight face. She walked up to the front desk and presented her badge. "Special Agent Clara Flowers here to speak with Special Agent Trevor Bednar."

The secretary looked at the badge, then at her screen. "I'm not seeing you on the schedule."

"Check again. We set this up about a half hour ago."

A few seconds passed in silence. "My apologies. It hadn't come through yet. I'll take you to the conference room." Summer nodded her thanks and followed the man through the building. She still had to force her emotions down so she didn't skip all the way. It was getting easier, but that would change once she started explaining the situation.

The secretary opened a door to a windowless room. "Right in here ma'am. You can connect your call through that terminal." He gestured to a small computer by a large screen

"Thank you." Summer walked into the room and the door closed behind her. She walked over to the computer and found her waiting call on the list. She connected, and her boss appeared on the large screen.

"You know, Clara," Trevor sighed, "you're not making my job easy lately."

"The people up top not liking what happened in Frisco?"

"They like that the city was defended and that the loss of life and property was minimal, but they don't like having to cover up Nightcrawler, the Flash, and She-Hulk."

"Crossing the streams a little, aren't you?"

"Not the point." Trevor rolled his eyes. "Now, with your husband arriving in the manner he did, the Coast Guard is going to have to search for survivors that don't exist as well as a fishing boat that sank in the area twenty years ago. That's a lot of taxpayer money down the drain. Please tell me you have something that will get the DoD off our backs for a little bit."

"Yes and no. My husband found the cause for the Grimm appearing here from the other side, and took it out. We shouldn't be seeing any more random Grimm strikes, unless there are patches we don't know about."

Trevor straightened up. "Are you sure? If this is true, this could change everything."

Summer nodded. "Positive. He came here the same way the Grimm did, and that technology is now in friendly hands."

"Well then…" Trevor leaned back in his chair. "People will be glad to hear this. Now what's the part that won't make my job easier?"

 _Keep it together Summer._ She took a deep breath. "I am requesting an extended leave of absence to go home with my family."

Trevor blinked. "Something tells me you aren't talking about New York or Brooklyn Center."

 _Only what he needs to know._ "I'm not. My husband has a device that can take people back to Remnant. Right now there's only one, but I'm certain that more can be made. I'm not saying travel back and forth will be easy, but it's possible."

"You're our best agent Clara. I can't just let you leave for a long time."

 _Dang politics._ "Well then I'll throw this in. There are several Huntsmen and Huntresses on the other side that would love to help out here. I know for a fact the Grimm aren't spawning here as fast as they are on the other side. We can beat them back if we hit them in the right place. The people of Remnant need that kind of victory as much as Earth does, maybe more. I might even be able to get some Dust tank shells manufactured for the Abrams, but that one is a long shot."

"I don't think you know how trade works. No one gives away that much without expecting anything in return."

"Believe it or not, I think Remnant would be satisfied with a few non-military things. I'm not talking loaning out Seal Team Six here. I'm talking solar power, the internal combustion engine-"

"Let me guess," Trevor interrupted, "a place to settle that's relatively free of Grimm."

Summer winced. "If word gets out to the general public, possibly. Then of course there's a chance that my people on the other side would make their own requests."

Trevor stared at Summer for a few more seconds, then sighed. "I'm going to take a lot of flak for this, but I'm going to grant you your leave of absence. You have been on a longer deployment than anyone else in US history. I'd say you've earned it."

Summer had to stop herself from jumping for joy and from keeping her smile from exploding off her face. "Thank you. I'll do my part on the other side."

"For my sake, don't disappear for a year. I don't think I'll have a job if you're gone that long."

 _Wait for the freak out._ "I think I can manage that. I'll report in when I'm back."

Trevor nodded. "Good luck, Flowers." He cut the connection on his end.

... _Home._ Now alone and with no chance of anyone seeing or hearing her, Summer's legs gave out from under her. She leaned against the wall and buried her face in her arms. It wasn't exactly the most professional thing to do. But who cared? Summer was going home. _Finally,_ she was going home. And there hopefully wouldn't be any retribution from the US.

Then she realized she was still in the FBI's building, and she was probably supposed to leave as soon as her call was over. Summer wiped the salty streaks off her face as she stood up. She straightened out her suit and left the room, hopefully not looking like someone who just had an emotional breakdown.

As soon as she was back in her car though, Summer fell back into that same giddy state. She fumbled around her pockets for her phone. She dialed the number for her hotel room and waited for someone to answer. There was a click on the other end. _"Hello?"_

"Hey Ruby, could you put your father on?"

" _Sure! Just a sec."_

A few seconds past, and Summer faintly heard Ruby talking to someone else. Then, _"How'd it go?"_ Tai asked.

Summer sighed. "I've got bad news."

" _Is it the kind of bad news where it turns out to be good news?"_

"How'd you know?" Summer laughed, unable to contain herself. "I've got the green light. Though if that thing does what it looks like it does, we're not going to want to be in a populated area when we use it. We're going to have to drive north for a while before we're good to go."

" _Glad to hear it, though Ruby saw a commercial for 'Disney World' on TV. I think she wants to go."_

" _It looks awesome!"_ Ruby yelled on the other side.

"Maybe some other time." Summer shook her head. "That place is expensive, and it's super packed this time of year. I will relent to going to Forest View when we get back though."

" _I'll pass it along."_

"I'll be back soon. After that…Remnant."

* * *

 **I'll hopefully be able to get a few more chapters up in the next few weeks.  
**


	13. Back Home

**Day after Christmas, hope all of you who celebrated had a good one. I for one got garbage...but garbage will do. No complaints.  
**

 **CRSE: Cerise (ha ha, inside joke)**

* * *

Ruby carried her small bag through the woods of Ocala National Forest. Her training over the past several years told her that she should at least have a hand on her weapon, if not ready to go at a moment's notice. Even the small forest on Patch had Grimm roaming through it. But her mom's word that the most dangerous things in the area were alligators and crocodiles overruled training. They weren't even anywhere near a source of water. In other words, they couldn't be safer if they were in Beacon surrounded by Atlas' military.

The forest was actually quite beautiful, and apparently one of the few places on the east coast that was relatively untouched by humans. Most people in the group could appreciate the forest. Not surprisingly, Weiss could appreciate their surroundings, but not walking through them. Her high heels already sank into the mud twice, but Ruby's mom and dad didn't stop moving into the forest.

Weiss groaned behind Ruby. "Again?"

Ruby looked back. Her partner's right heel was touching the ground, the two inch long stick most likely buried underneath it. "Ya know, Weiss," Ruby started, "you should really get some shoes that don't have a tendency to slow you down."

"Easy for you to say," Weiss grumbled as she yanked her foot out of the ground. "You don't have to meet insane expectations."

"It doesn't matter what you look like if you end up dead," Taiyang called from the of the pack.

"That's what I keep trying to tell the FBI!" Summer yelled. Ruby faced her mom and smiled. She hadn't seen her mom passionate about a lot of things, but it never failed to infect her. "I mean, it makes sense to have it in the military for camouflage and knowing who is who on the battlefield, but why do we have to wear suits and ties _everywhere?_ To me, that just screams government agent, which there are certainly time we want to avoid that. I guess there's the fact that we have to look professional, but hey, this protects me just as well as one of those expensive suits. It's a lot cheaper too." Summer tugged on her hood.

"I'm seeing double," Blake said behind Ruby.

Ruby faced her teammate and smiled. "Thank you."

"At least your mom can get serious." Weiss crossed her arms. "You're way too active."

"Come on, ice queen," Yang hooked an arm around Weiss shoulders, "I think you're forgetting Mountain Glen the first time, the Breach, Mountain Glen take two, and Frisco."

"Being serious is boring." Ruby sagged her shoulders for emphasis. "I'm not exactly the best at it either. If I could, I'd be like this aaaall the time."

"You aren't?" Yang asked with a smirk.

"Not enough." Ruby turned back around and nearly bumped into her dad. "We're done walking?"

Her parents exchanged a look. "We're far enough from any trails," her mom said. "I'd like to go farther, but we'd need to be somewhere else. I don't think the FBI would like me taking a Florida car out of state."

Taiyang knelt down and took the backpack off his back. "Time to go home." He opened up the main pouch and pulled out a green tube with a few wires sticking out of it. A red button and what looked like a clock rested on the cap of the tube.

"Is that a pipe bomb?" Weiss demanded. "How will that get us home! It'll kill us."

"It's how I got here." Taiyang shrugged. "I don't think your sister would have given me this if she didn't think it would work."

"Winter?" Weiss walked forward and took a closer look at the pipe bomb. "I…I'm not sure if you're joking or not."

"My partner and I worked with Winter to take down Merlot. While she never actually said it while I was around, she was worried about you. Technically, I shouldn't even have this thing. Winter got it to Qrow without going through the proper channels."

"That's…not like her." Weiss shook her head.

"Losing a family member can do strange things to people. Believe me, I know." Taiyang stood up and looked at the entirety of team RWBY. "Just so you know, the explosion that sent you here was _supposed_ to send you to different places. This one should bring us all to the same place. No searching all across Remnant for each other again."

"What are we waiting for?" Yang asked. "Let's go home!"

The six Huntsman and Huntresses formed a small circle. Ruby stood between her mom and Weiss. As her dad pushed the button on the bomb, her mom grabbed one of Ruby's hands and squeezed like her life depended on it. Ruby looked up, expecting her mom to be smiling intensely. Instead, she bit her lower lip and her eyes were glued to the green explosive. "Mom, something wrong?"

"It's just…I've had bad experiences with things that looked like that in the past few years. I never thought I'd be intentionally standing by one when it blows up."

Ruby squeezed her mom's hand back. "Well, you're not going through this alone."

The corner of her mom's lips rose slightly. "Thanks, Gem." Both mother and daughter looked back at the pipe bomb, just in time to see its explosion.

Once again, Ruby saw and heard nothing. She might as well be in space. Unlike before, she felt something in her left hand, trying to cut off its circulation. She felt her arm start to move away from her body, and her shoulder strained. Ruby started to panic. _Don't let go. Don't let this thing pull us apart. I don't want to look for you again, mom!_

But the force was too great. Ruby felt her mom's hand leave, just as she saw color again. She felt wind against her back and hair, right before she slammed into something solid. The hit knocked the wind out of her and she slumped to the ground.

As she caught her breath, Ruby looked up from her legs and to the area around her. She was in a forest, but the leaves were red, orange, and yellow. Most people that stood around the pipe bomb in Florida lay scattered around the clearing, with a few of them in a similar position to Ruby.

But one of them was missing. Ruby looked to her left, where her mom was holding her hand only moments before. "Mom?" she whispered, unable to speak at full volume.

"Up here," a voice groaned from directly above Ruby. She looked up and saw her mom draped over the branch of a tree. "I guess I jumped a little." Ruby let her shoulders fall and she let out as much of a laugh as her empty lungs would allow. Looked like she was panicking over nothing.

Some leaves crunched one the ground. Ruby faced it at saw Blake walking over. "You okay?" she asked as she held out a hand.

"I'm fine." Ruby took the hand and Blake hauled her to her feet. "Just a little winded." Ruby bent over and rested her hands on her knees to catch her breath.

She saw Blake's legs pass her on the right. "Need help getting down?" Blake probably asked Summer.

"Nope." There was a faint pop, then Ruby saw a white rose petal float past her eyes. She turned her head left and saw her mom on all fours, right before she popped to her feet. "Well, that was something."

Ruby stood at her full height and looked around for real. This place actually looked familiar. Probably on that field trip out here to collect sap that one time. "Forever Fall." She felt an uncontrollable smile invade her face. "We're back!"

"Weren't we here for a field trip first semester?" Yang asked. "I distinctly remember Jaune being in trouble in that direction." She pointed to a spot deeper into the forest.

"They still do that trip?" Summer asked, her own smile trying to free itself from the confines of skin. She laughed. "All just to make syrup for the cafeteria. Oh, Ozpin, you haven't changed a bit." She blinked and slowly looked up. A second later, she disappeared in a flash of rose petals. A tree rustled nearby.

Ruby ran over to the tree and started climbing up it. Halfway up, she saw her mom's legs dangling off thick branch. She finished climbing and sat next to her mom. They both looked over the forest, and straight at the castle that was Beacon Academy. Amity Colosseum hung in the air nearby, with dozens of transports flying between it and the ground. With all that happened on Earth, Ruby had completely forgotten that the Tournament was taking place.

Summer sobbed beside her. Ruby looked at her mom, kind of concerned. Her mom's eyes were red and watery. A hand covered her mouth, though the ends of her lips rose above it. "It…it's been so long…" Her voice sounded small and like it was being forced out.

Ruby hugged her mom from the side. "Welcome home, mom."

"It…it's good to be back." Summer wrapped an arm around Ruby and pulled her close.

The two stayed like that for a while, then the tree shook. Ruby looked down and saw her dad climbing up. He made it to the branch and slid beside Ruby. "One heck of a view, isn't it?"

"Oh yeah." Summer nodded. "I'd take this over New York any day." She looked up toward the Colosseum. "Any idea how far in the tournament they are?"

"If I'm timing this right, either the first or second day. I lost track somewhere in there."

Ruby's shoulders slumped. "Please be day one. We're on day two."

"Uh, Ruby, about that…" her dad rubbed the back of his head. "After you were announced as missing in action, your spot in the tournament was open. A third year team took your place. I believe I heard it was team CRSE."

"What?" Ruby yelled at her dad. Her shoulders slumped even more and her head went with them. "Oh…I really wanted to fight…"

"You still have the tournament two years from now." Summer gently shook Ruby. "We couldn't compete our first time because Qrow was injured after a mission. Look how that ended up."

"I guess…" Ruby sighed. "Ah well, it's not like I do the best in front of crowds anyway."

"I'm sure you would have done fine." Her dad paused. "I called for a pickup. We've got a Bullhead five minutes out. It'll fly us to Beacon from here."

"First time seeing one of those. This'll be interesting."

There was a loud crack and Ruby felt herself fall a few inches. She looked at where the branch connected to the tree. There was a large gap in the wood. "Oh, no." The branch broke off and the three family members fell to the ground. Ruby and Summer hit a few branches on the way down, but Taiyang fell straight to the ground. He landed first, quickly followed by Summer and Ruby.

"Saw that coming," Weiss said from nearby.

"Lasted longer than I expected," Blake chipped in.

"Don't leave me out of this!" Yang yelled.

Seconds later, a large weight fell on Ruby's back, causing the two people beneath her to groan. "A little more warning next time sis?" Ruby pushed out.

"Nah. That spoils the fun."

"She has a point there, Ruby," her dad said.

Summer laughed, and a few tears escaped her eyes. "God, I missed this."

* * *

Summer had her eyes glued on the sky after she teleported back up another tree. Somewhere among all those transports flying between Beacon and Amity was the one that would take her family back home. Well, to the school anyway. As far as Summer was concerned, she _was_ home.

One of the transports looked like it was getting bigger. The sound from two jet engines slowly grew louder. As the transport flew closer, the 'Bullhead' reminded Summer of an Osprey, only more streamlined and with jets instead of props. What the army wouldn't give for some of those things.

The Huntress raised the flare gun she took from Earth and fired the bright red ball. Remnant didn't exactly use flares regularly, but hopefully it would mean the same thing to the pilots.

Sure enough, the Bullhead turned to where Summer shot the flare. As it approached, the engines moved from horizontal to vertical and it hovered overhead. The doors on the sides opened up and a single gun barrel poked out of the door closer to Summer. Several ropes fell out and through the trees.

Naturally, Summer didn't need any of those. She simply looked up at the transport and teleported inside. She looked at the gunman as he turned his gun to her. Almost immediately, he lowered it. "You know, you could have given me some warning." He aimed his blunderbuss back out of the transport.

Summer smirked. "You should know it's what I do by now, Peter."

"That's Professor Port to you, Miss…" Peter straightened up and his weapon fell to his side. His eyes appeared from under his enormous eyebrows. "Miss Rose?"

"Yep. It's me. Ruby's down there too." Summer drew Sun's Light and switched it to its sniper form. "Sorry, but I don't think your gun has the best accuracy at range. I'll cover them, you can pull the ropes in."

Peter said nothing, but some machinery started whirring. The ropes slowly coiled up, pulling those on the ground up with them. One by one, five people emerged from the trees. They slowly rose to meet the Bullhead. Summer and Peter pulled them in and the transport started moving.

The side doors closed as the Bullhead picked up speed. "Hang on tight back there," the pilot called over the intercom. "Clear skies all the way to Beacon. ETA, five minutes."

"Team RWBY," Peter started, "you have my sincere apologies for sending you on that mission to Mountain Glen. Despite the past, I did not expect Merlot to be experimenting in there."

"I think it turned out pretty well." Ruby smiled and latched herself onto her mom's arm. "We found her!" Summer smiled and ruffled her youngest's hair.

Peter returned his gaze to Summer. "So I see."

"It was Professor Oobleck that sent us to Mountain Glen anyway," Weiss said.

"Doctor," the three adults said at the same time. They all shared a glance, and Summer tried and failed to hold back a snort. "Well, that hasn't changed."

"Summer, if I may," Peter hesitated, "where have you been all this time?"

"Sorry Peter." Summer shook her head. "I have to speak with Ozpin before I tell anyone else. He'll decide who else needs to know."

"You've never been the secretive type."

"Like you said, I've been gone a long time. A lot can change." Summer looked out one of the small windows on the Bullhead. Beacon was growing larger in the window every second, and so did Summer's smile. "I don't suppose the opening for combat class professor is still open?"

"Glynda took it back when no one else applied for the job," Tai said.

Summer turned to her husband. "Isn't she deputy Headmistress? That's a lot of work she is."

"Maybe that's why she's so cranky," Ruby whispered.

"Nah, she's always been like that." Summer looked back out the window. She was silent for the rest of the flight, allowing the others to talk. It's not like she was going to explain where she was without talking to Ozpin first. Maybe she was just being FBI paranoid. Why couldn't she tell Peter? It's not like he would go blabbing about it to everyone he saw. Then again, he wasn't Barty either.

The Bullhead flew around Beacon toward the docks. A single person with black hair and a massive sword on his back stood off the main landing pad. Summer bounced on the balls of her feet as she turned back around. "Tai cover for me."

He blinked. "Going somewhere?"

"Qrow's down there. I have to go say hi."

Tai blinked, then nodded. "I'll take care of things here."

"Thank you." Summer looked out the window and at the roof of one of the dorms. She teleported there and looked back at the landing pad. Her perch was far enough away where she wouldn't be seen without people looking for her, but close enough where she could easily spy on the landing pad.

The Bullhead touched down and the doors opened. Ruby immediately ran out and latched onto one of her uncle's arms. Qrow raised it to horizontal with the ground and ruffled Ruby's hair even more. Yang walked out of the Bullhead and gave Qrow a hug as well. Qrow swung both of his arms around Yang with Ruby still attached to one of them. He hadn't changed a bit.

Ruby freed herself and started bouncing herself. A gust of wind nearby blew something out of her hood. Summer's shoulders drooped as she realized it was one of her petals. _Well, there goes the element of surprise…_

Qrow grabbed the petal out of the air. He stood as still as a statue for a few seconds, then started looking around. He knew what was coming, might as well not keep him waiting.

Summer teleported just behind and above her teammate. Gravity did its trick and she tackled Qrow to the ground. She was just barely able to get her arms around him before they hit ground. "Gotcha!"

"Yeah, ya did." Qrow's voice sounded scratchy, like he'd yelled too much at a sporting event. The smell around him proved otherwise. "Ya know Summer, you're really putting me at a disadvantage here."

"Oh, I know." Summer straddled Qrow and moved one arm that was around his chest to a chokehold. "Would you mind telling me why you smell like a bar? And why Ruby says you were drunk while training her?"

"Uh, about that…"

"Don't you dare say me disappearing would drive you to that. You were my second in command, and you knew if anything happened to me you'd take over."

"It's…a long story"

"It better be, because I thought drunk Qrow didn't exist. I expected you to-"

"Is there a problem here?" another voice asked.

Summer looked up at the interrupter, and the first thing she saw were the pins worn by an Atlas general. She immediately peeled herself of Qrow and stood at attention. "No sir." She threw the man a quick salute. "I was just making sure this man was okay after falling on his face." As she spoke, she recognized the man as then Colonel James Ironwood. They hadn't had many interactions before, but his assistance in defending Patch in the last attack was unforgettable. Two other people stood with the General, one of them was Winter Schnee, looking as strict and militaristic as all other times they came into contact, and a girl with orange hair that looked completely out of place next to the two soldiers.

James blinked and his jaw dropped slightly. "Summer Rose?" He gently shook his head. "At ease. You aren't one of my men."

Summer lowered her arm and relaxed. "Sorry. Force of habit." She looked down and offered a hand to Qrow. He took it and Summer hauled him to his feet. She jabbed a finger in his face. "I'm still mad at you."

Qrow laughed nervously and backed away. "I'll keep that in mind."

Something tugged Summer's arm. She looked down right at Ruby's smiling face. "We're going back to our room to unwind. Can we meet back up sometime later?"

"Dinner as a family in Vale?" Summer suggested. "Sorry, but I'm picking the place. I'll call you."

"Fine with me." Ruby hugged her mom. "Love you. See you soon." She let go and immediately started walking toward the dorms, her team in tow. She waved at the orange haired girl as she passed.

Winter shifted on her feet behind Ironwood. "General, if I may…"

James raised a hand. "Specialist Schnee, the evening is yours." Winter nodded and walked off rather quickly. James focused back on Summer. "Miss Rose, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me. I'm sure Ozpin will want to hear why you have been missing for the past several years."

"I was going to ask about that anyway. I have some things I have to speak with him about." Summer turned around and looked to her husband. "Tai, tonight I'm all yours, but there are some things I have to say that you aren't cleared for. Government agent and all that."

Tai's smile disappeared, but he nodded just the same. "I get it." His tone of voice said otherwise.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Qrow waved his arms in front of himself. "Sum, you're working for the _government?"_

"Yeah. That one _is_ a long story, and I'll tell you what I can when I can." Summer hugged her teammate, from the front this time. "It's good to see you Qrow." Though she hated to use the moment, Summer grabbed the flask from Qrow's belt, hoping he wouldn't notice.

"Good to see you too, boss." Qrow returned the hug, but it felt hesitant. The two teammates separated after a few seconds and Qrow walked away with Tai. Tai tossed Summer his scroll, only because Summer put all the information about all Grimm attacks on Earth on it.

Summer turned back to James. The other girl by his side disappeared somewhere. "Lead the way, James. I don't think my ID will work here anymore."

"Of course." James nodded. "Though I'm sure you know the way." He turned around and started walking to the center of Beacon.

Summer felt the eyes of several students on her as she walked. Some of them were probably wondering how someone they'd seen around campus suddenly grew a foot taller, especially if they'd seen Ruby walk by earlier. One student in particular caught her attention. His blond hair and blue eyes stuck out like a sore thumb on Remnant for being so…normal. The sword and sheath on his belt, though, Summer knew well. Crocea Mors, the weapon of Auburn Arc. That must be the Jaune Arc Ruby and Yang talked about.

Jaune looked past his probable teammates and apparently saw Summer. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He made some pretty overt motions with his hands, all directed at the Huntress. His teammates looked over at well. The ginger of the group smiled and waved. "Ruby! Where have you been?" she called. The boy in green lowered the girl's arm and said something Summer didn't hear. The girl's smile faded and she looked Summer up and down, most likely trying to figure out how someone could look so much like Ruby but not be her. Summer shook her head and looked forward again. She'd have to get used to that.

A nearby caw caught her attention. Summer looked up at a light pole along the walkway. A raven looked at Summer intently, it's head tracking her perfectly. It raised a wing and waved it like a human would. Summer winked up at her partner. Raven cawed again and flew right past Summer's head.

The Huntress watched the bird fly off, her stare turning into a glare. Why the hell didn't Raven look after Ruby and Yang. She _promised_ if anything happened to Summer, she'd be back and look after them. Raven _never_ broke a promise. Even if something did come up after Summer disappeared, that couldn't have lasted thirteen years. Raven made sure two little girls grew up without a mother, and she at least had the choice to stay or go. She had some explaining to do.

* * *

Fred sighed as he entered his apartment in West Fargo. The roads were absolute crap in this storm. He didn't see a single plow the whole drive from campus. Why didn't Fargo use salt? Moorhead used it right across the river. Probably some environmental crap he didn't understand.

Rich walked out of the hall with a piece of pizza in hand. "You hear the news?" he asked.

"What, that this storm actually was worse than originally forecasted? I drove through it." Fred threw his backpack at the wall and started taking off his winter gear.

"No shit, Sherlock. I mean the NCAA called it. Bearkats won."

Fred froze in place with one of his shoes in a hand. "What? Please tell me they actually have a decent reason behind it?"

Rich shrugged. "I looked into it. They can't get the stadium back anytime soon because some parts were damaged." He stayed silent after that.

"That's it? The NFL is in the playoffs now. They couldn't get any of those stadiums? We could have played in Kansas City, easily. Split the difference." Fred shook his head and threw his shoes on the drying rack.

"That, and something about it was most of the way through the fourth quarter. They took a page out of baseball's book."

"That actually makes sense." Fred sighed. "Still, we should have won that. Freaking pass interference…"

"Yeah. Even ESPN is saying that was a bad call."

Fred shrugged off his jacket. "Still, five with an asterisk is pretty good. Not going to be matched for a while."

"Point." Rich looked out the window. "You still thinking about going to pep band tonight?"

"If it's not canceled, I have to. Gotta hand down the BonePhone." Fred picked up his backpack. "But for now, I have to fudge a paper. Don't interrupt unless there's food involved or the building's burning down."

"Or if there's a dragon outside?" Rich smirked.

"Um, yeah. The poor thing would get its wings ripped off in the wind. We'd either need to bring it in here or find a bridge or something for it to hide under."

"Whatever you say, Hiccup."

Fred rolled his eyes and entered his bedroom. He threw his backpack by the green and yellow megaphone and roused his computer from its sleep. As he waited for the machine to wake up, searched through his backpack for the right textbook. Of course, Facebook was the first thing on the screen after he unlocked the PC. Now distracted, he refreshed the page to look down his feed.

Sure enough, the whole thing was dominated by the championship news. It seemed like a fifty-fifty split on whether Bison fans were blasting the refs for their terrible play calling or looking forward to 2017, with a few people sprinkled in saying that they were lucky to be complaining at all. Fred thought he was among the last two.

As he scrolled, other things started to show up. People's Christmases, New Year's, game invites, the normal stuff. Just as Fred was about to close the tab and actually get some work done, a CNN article caught his attention. 'Defenders of Frisco Commit Suicide.' That was the first time he heard about that. Fred opened it and skimmed through it to see if it was worth his time.

Then he saw a picture of one of the ammo magazines Ruby carried in an evidence bag.

Fred's jaw dropped. "What?" He knew some depressed people around campus, but Ruby was _not_ one of them. Then again, she fought in that battle. Could PTSD do that to someone so quickly? No, that couldn't be it. Ruby said she'd killed hundreds of Werewolves and the like. Why? Why did this happen?

Fred read through the article, not skipping a word. He didn't like it one bit. A hiker in Florida was filming his trip on a Go-Pro and came across a group in the forest standing in a circle. CNN couldn't identify only two of the six. The others were FBI Agent Clara Flowers, inventor of the anti-Grimm rounds; Ruby Rose, the Flash from the Mall of America; Blake Belladonna, the Seven-Eleven girl; and Taiyang Xiao Long, the castaway. CNN tried making claims that they were all part of the FBI or military in some way, but Fred knew it was much simpler.

Fred back out of CNN's site and looked around others. Fox, ABC, NBC, local sources, they all said the same thing. Six people blew themselves up in Ocala National Park. Only the conspiracy theories differed.

"Shit." Fred lay his hands on his desk and slammed his head down on them. "What did I miss?"

* * *

 **Ah, the glories of not knowing the full story.**

 **I'll say this now, if you want this to keep going past a few more chapters (and most likely another super long hiatus) Hit me with suggestions. I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel here. Really, anything but shipping...I'm not a romance guy.**


	14. More Than One Choice

**HAPPY NEW YEAR! We survived 2016...and so far 2017 is looking about the same. Not much else to say here...so on with this.  
**

* * *

"Welcome home, team RWBY!" Ruby cheered as she removed the key from their door. She pushed the door open and stepped inside. From her memory, nothing looked like it changed. Dust piled up on a few things, but otherwise nothing moved. It was home sweet dorm room.

"I can't believe I actually missed this place." Yang walked past Ruby and pulled herself onto her bed. "Yep. Still stable."

"I'm going to miss that house in Brooklyn Center though." Weiss laid her small bag on her bed. "No offense guys, but I like having my own room."

"I'm just happy to be off the streets." Blake sat on her bunk and laid down. "It's good to be back to normal."

"It sure is." Ruby put her key back in a pocket and her hand brushed against something. Not knowing what it was, she pulled it out. Another smile broke out on her face. She completely forgot about it after it died. "We can recharge our scrolls!" She rushed to the charging station and plugged in her scroll. The others on her team quickly followed suit.

Ruby jumped onto her bed and sprawled out. She never really had the experience of being away from home for a long time and missing the feeling of her bed. Even without being under the covers, she knew she could fall asleep in seconds.

As she laid in bed, she thought of something that she couldn't believe she didn't think of before. "I never really did anything to thank him."

"Him?" Blake asked.

"Oh yeah, you never met him." Ruby sat up on her bed and looked down at Blake. "Fred pulled me off the side of a highway and brought me to a hospital my first day. After that, he lat me stay at his house until mom found me. I can't believe I didn't do anything for him. Now it's to late." Ruby's shoulders slumped.

"Mom said she has to go back at some point," Yang chipped in. "She can bring something across."

"Yeah, but what?"

"Didn't one of you say he plays trombone?" Weiss asked.

"He does. But I don't see...oh my gosh that's perfect!" Ruby bounced on her bed. "Something that could only be from me that he uses every day!"

Blake shook her head. "Don't go too overboard, Ruby. They don't like weapons as much on the other side."

"No gun. Got it!"

"So now that we're back," Yang started, "what do we do?"

"Let our friends know we're alive for one thing," Blake suggested. "We've been gone for a month, and your dad made it sound like everyone thought we were dead."

"Anyone seen JNPR?" Yang asked. "They should be the first to know."

"Well, we passed CFVY on the way here," Weiss said. "JNPR won't be first."

Blake walked out the door and knocked on the room across the hall. She waited a few seconds outside, but nothing happened. "I don't think they're here." She started walking back to her room.

"BLAKE!" a familiar voice yelled. Blake looked to her left, right before she was tackled out of sight by a white and pink blur. "You're actually back!"

"I think they know." Ruby slid off her bed and walked to the doorway. Ren had peeled Nora off Blake and Pyrrha helped the Faunus to her feet. Jaune stood off to the side. "Hey guys! Sorry we're late."

"Ruby, where have you all been?" Jaune asked. "You've been gone for weeks!"

"That's…a bit of a story," Blake said as she rubbed the back of her head. "Come inside if you want to hear. It'll take a while to explain everything."

Nora shrugged and walked into RWBY's room. "We've got nothing going on the rest of the day." She turned to Ruby as she sat down next to Weiss' bed. "By the way, are you a clone of somebody? We saw someone that looked _exactly_ like you, only older."

"Nope!" Ruby closed the door behind Blake as she entered the room. "That was my mom!"

Pyrrha and Ren looked at Ruby, confused. "I'm sorry?" Pyrrha asked.

Ren took a small step forward. "I thought you said-"

"That's what we thought." Yang sat up on her bed. "It turns out she was on Earth the whole time! Kicking butt and taking names, just like she did here."

"Earth?" Jaune asked. "Where's that?"

"Somewhere between impossible and doesn't exist." Yang jumped off her bed and sat down on Blake's.

Pyrrha looked between Ruby and Yang. "I'm not following."

Weiss shrugged. "Like Blake said, it's a long story." A scroll rang in the room. Weiss stood up and walked over to it. She took one look at the screen and froze up. "Sorry guys, I've got to go." She left the room without another word.

"That was weird," Nora said.

"Her sister was outside," Blake stated. "That probably has something to do with it."

"Earth…" Ruby sat down on Weiss' bead. "Where do we begin…"

* * *

Summer rode up the elevator to Ozpin's office with James right beside her. She might have noticed it when she first got to Earth, but Remnant elevators were a lot faster than Earth's. Then again, both planets had faster ones for skyscrapers. The CCT was probably a bad comparison.

The two people in the elevator took the ride very differently. James stood ramrod straight with his hands behind his back. Back on Earth, Summer would copy the stance if she was with anyone in the military and all but her closest friends in the FBI. On Remnant, where she was just any other Huntress, she leaned on the back wall while she waited patiently, humming a Skillet song to herself. At least as a Huntress, she could be herself whenever she wanted.

The elevator doors opened and James stepped out. Summer followed right on his heels. Two people already stood in the room. Ozpin still wore the same green suit he always wore before Summer disappeared. The main difference was that the frames on his glasses changed from rectangular to a perfect circle, and maybe his coffee mug. Glynda looked surprisingly older. Her once ankle length cape now was cut into several arrows. There was probably a story behind that.

Ozpin looked up at James. "General, may I assume the retrieval went…" he trailed off as his gaze drifted to Summer. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly. The coffee mug fell from his hand and spilled its contents on his desk. "Summer?"

The Huntress in question looked at the downed mug. "You dropped your coffee. You feeling alright Oz?"

"Summer Rose," Glynda said as she walked away from the window. "You're alive?"

"The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." Summer smirked.

Ozpin blinked, then nodded. "So it would seem." He righted the mug on his desk and sat down in his chair. "Summer, if I may, where have you been the past thirteen years?"

"All of you might want to get comfortable. This could take a while." Summer began from her investigation into Merlot. She didn't leave out a detail as she remembered that day vividly. Apparently those in the room were familiar with at least that part of the story. When she got to the part about New York though, Ozpin leaned forward on his desk and gave Summer his full attention. Glynda and James had similar looks of interest on their face. Then again, a single city with the population of the Kingdom of Mistral would catch anyone's attention.

Two words got their attention more than any others: no Grimm. That had been Remnant's hope since history began. Somewhere out there was a world that didn't have their greatest threat, their greatest fear. James didn't even care when Summer explained all the tension between countries and the long and bloody wars. No aura attracted some attention too, but not nearly as much.

As Summer explained her actions on 9/11, everyone's faces darkened. James clenched a fist. Summer couldn't blame any of them. All of Earth was in the same boat. The people in front of her didn't seem too pleased with Summer joining up with the FBI though, until she said she was on the Hostage Rescue Team. Summer skipped over the part where she tried to drink her way out of her problems. That would be a conversation for only Qrow to hear…and Tai. He deserved to know as well.

Then came the first Grimm attack in Idaho. At first, Summer passed it off as bigfoot or some other urban legend. That is until the guy who was attacked released pictures of it. Most media sources passed it off as some sort of prank, but Summer and the FBI immediately started working to figure out how the Beowolf made it to Earth and how to take them out.

Summer then explained the arrival of all Huntsmen and the War on Grimm together. With every additional Huntsman, the amount of Grimm attacks increased. Earth was scared, and Summer thought that only brought more. Countries fell, and enemies became allies.

Finally, Summer came to the past month and the arrival of team RWBY. She had to pinch herself through a pocket to prevent her from talking too fast and going off on a tangent about her girls. She filled the small council in on she cover story for Tai, and the possibility that the public at least had a related idea to how the Huntresses could do all those things in Frisco.

"And now, I'm here. I think I covered most of my experiences on Earth." Summer crossed her arms. That took longer than she thought. "I'm sure anyone on team RWBY would be happy to confirm my story."

The other three stood or sat silent for a few seconds. Ozpin sighed and laid his arms flat on his desk. "That is quite the history, Miss Rose. I hardly took you for the military type."

Summer shrugged. "Like I said. That was the best way to fight Grimm."

"You mentioned something about conditions for your leave of absence," Glynda started. "What are they?"

"Time to play politics…" Summer mumbled. "One thing is they would like more support against the Grimm. We know how to fight them, Earth doesn't. Since Merlot could move between Remnant and Earth with explosives, I figure Atlas can make something a little more civilized that's multi-use."

James maintained a poker face. "At this point I can't confirm or deny that claim."

"And that's code for 'we're close to a major breakthrough that I don't want to tell people about yet." Summer smirked at James, though he kept his poker face.

"Deals like this work both ways," James stated. "What do they have to offer us?"

"I'm no Washington diplomat here. They would have the final say on this. But I would like to think that at least they'd offer some alternative forms or energy in case there's a Dust shortage at any point. Solar panels, gas engines, wind turbines…" Summer cocked her head. "And depending on how well we fare against the Grimm, possibly satellite technology. Though that one is a stretch. NASA is protective of their work."

"Satellites?" Glynda scoffed. "We can't get anything to leave the atmosphere and stay out there."

"Rocket fuel isn't Dust, though I'm sure NASA could figure out why it's not working and how to fix it. They're experts on the topic."

"What about land?" James asked.

Summer sighed. She had a feeling that was coming. "There isn't much to offer. Most continents are filled to the brim with countries and people. Vacuo and Menagerie might be able to survive in the Sahara, Atlas in Antarctica, but Vale and Mistral would have nowhere to go." Summer focused on James. "If any Kingdom tries to take land by force, they'll be beaten down. The United States military alone has more men than Atlas and Mistral combined, not to mention China, Russia and Europe. They have the tech to back those numbers up too. There is no way any Kingdom could get enough forces through at once to create a meaningful invasion."

James narrowed his eyes. "What are you saying?"

"You're the representative from Atlas here. If your council is anything like it was when I left, they'd try to take whatever they could get their hands on."

The general relaxed his shoulders. "I hold two seats on the Atlas council. I can assure you, it's not as erratic as it was thirteen years ago."

Summer sighed. "That's a relief. That council was crazy." She shook her head and focused back on Ozpin. "Anything you need to fill me in on? I would understand if I'm out of the loop now."

James' and Glynda's eyes turned to Ozpin. He stayed silent, his eyes looking Summer up and down. Eventually he straightened in his chair. "Qrow took your position after you disappeared. He was reluctant at first, but he eventually filled the gap you left. I don't think he will mind you taking over some of your old duties."

"Thank you, Oz. I'll do my best." _So he did take over as leader…but why did he let Raven go?_

"Three of the Maidens are the ones you knew from before," Glynda said. "Amber, however…"

"Amber?" Summer's mind went back to when she met the girl. At the time, Amber wasn't much older than Ruby was now. About as energetic too. "Please tell me she got in a car accident."

James sighed. "Things would be a lot simpler if that was the case."

Ozpin stood up from his chair. "Please, follow me." He walked to the elevator and everyone in the room followed. Inside, he opened a hidden compartment inside the wiring of the maintenance panel. The elevator started moving down. Summer watched the floors go by, not knowing what to expect. It definitely wasn't traveling a few hundred feet past the basement.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened to reveal a long, dark hall lit by green torches. "This is new…" Summer mumbled as she stepped out.

"This level has only come into use in the past year," Ozpin explained. "It all started when Amber was attacked when traveling between villages. Qrow says there were three assailants, but he never caught their faces."

"So…why are we down here? If Amber was killed, why…" Summer looked to the end of the tunnel. Two tubes that looked like cryopods were propped up on other machinery. Various wiring and piping ran out of the top of both. From her position, Summer thought she saw someone in one of the pods. "Oh no."

Summer jogged ahead of everyone else. She stopped right in front of the tube. Sure enough, Amber lay asleep inside, a massive mark lay on the left side of her face. Summer wished it was a burn mark, but the lines were too straight. She looked to a screen wired to the pod. It looked like all of Amber's heart rate and brain activity were normal, for being in a cryopod anyway. Everything except her Aura.

"What happened?" Summer turned back to Ozpin.

"As far as we can tell," Ozpin started, "her Aura has been split in half. Stolen."

"What?" Summer quirked her eyebrows. "How is that possible?"

"We aren't sure." James shook his head. "This is the first time we've seen the power split like this. We have nothing to base predictions off of."

"I take it one of her assailants has the other half. Do we have any idea who they are?"

Ozpin lowered his head. "We know nothing."

Summer turned back to Amber. She put a hand on the cold glass. "What's going to happen to her?"

"That pod is the only thing keeping her alive," James explained. "When she dies, we think her power will go to her assailant."

"She's not going to make it?"

"Unfortunately not. Her health has been deteriorating every day." Glynda sighed. "We do have a solution, but none of us are happy about it."

Summer took her hand off the pod. She backed up a few steps and looked at the whole machine. All the tubes and wires from Amber's pod connected directly to the other. It suddenly clicked for Summer. She turned on the other three. "Please tell me this isn't what I think it is."

"I wish I could." Ozpin shook his head. "This is the only way we can keep the remaining power away from her assailant."

"The _only way?"_ Summer yelled. "That's a load of crap. Do we know what that will do to Amber? To whoever you're going to put in the other pod? It's not a good idea to have two minds struggling for the same body, and that is _exactly_ what would happen with this!"

Glynda glared at James. "We have already had this same conversation. Right now, this is the only option that we can control."

"Then you haven't thought hard enough. There has to be another way."

"If you can think of anything," Ozpin started, "we will listen. But Amber has a week at most before she passes. We need a candidate for a new Maiden."

Summer narrowed her eyes at Ozpin. "Not either of my girls."

Ozpin shook his head. "They were out of consideration when they disappeared. Right now, we have a friend of theirs in mind."

* * *

Weiss sighed and put her fork down. "And now we're back here. While our time there was interesting, I can't imagine going back."

Winter folded her hands together across the table. "You were lucky, Weiss. Few people get a second chance. Though from the sound of it, it's easier to survive on Earth without having to deal with Grimm."

"I can't believe we found each other so quickly. There are just so many people on the other side. Then again, I guess they're used to dealing with so many people."

"So it would seem." Winter paused. "Weiss, I believe there is something important you left out of your explanation. I highly doubt Miss Rose found you in an interrogation room."

Weiss tried to keep her shoulders from slumping. "I can't remember. It's all black."

"Weiss. What happened before you met Summer Rose?" Winter's voice made the question sound like an order.

"I…" Weiss looked at her lap. What would Winter think of this? She was so different from Ruby's mom. Soldiers were probably very different between Earth and Remnant. Summer did say only special forces could turn off their morality to take another's life, and Winter was probably Atlas' equivalent. What would she think of Weiss' weakness? "I killed people. The first thing I did on Earth was kill ten people, and steal one of their cars, and I killed another one later."

Weiss waited for the reprimand, but it never came. She slowly looked up at her sister, expecting to see a look of disgust. Instead, Winter had the same blank expression she always had. "Was it justified?" Winter finally asked.

"Yes. The first ten tried to kidnap me, then kill me when I fought back, the other in a prison where they took people they successfully kidnapped." Weiss shook her head. "They were terrible people. Why does it hurt? Why do I still see them in my dreams?"

For the first time since before she joined the military, Winter's eyes softened and showed sympathy. "I can't say I know what you're going through. I have never had to take another's life."

"What?" Weiss couldn't believe what she just heard. Winter _never_ killed anyone before? It wasn't that Weiss thought her sister was a cold blooded killer, but her occupation and experience would say that she had ample opportunity. Weiss killed before her _military_ sister?

"I don't look forward to the day that happens either." Winter shook her head. "It is not natural to want to take another's life. Some people can't fathom killing Grimm. But for people in our occupation, it's a reality that we might have to face. We protect people, from Grimm and each other, and only use lethal force when absolutely necessary."

"But aren't you trained to do that?"

"Yes, but holographic targets are not alive. Training can only get us so far. It's another experience entirely to take another's life."

"Miss Rose said something similar." Weiss hugged herself and looked at her lap. "At least this is normal."

"If you ever felt comfortable with taking someone else's life, I would have to come after you myself." Winter's eyes hardened again and she straightened up in her chair. "Enough of this talk. How has your time at Beacon gone?"

* * *

Summer leaned against the railing on the roof of the CCT. Technically she wasn't supposed to be up there, but Ozpin never cared, and so far being close to the large transmitter hadn't given her cancer. It had been too long since she'd been up there. The view of the city was astounding at that time of day. The sun hid behind Patch, casting the mainland into an early dusk, but the rays that peaked around the island shone for miles. Some of them even reflected off Amity Colosseum. The organizers had to do that on purpose.

This time though, Summer wasn't enjoying the view as much as she would have liked. She raked her brain to find another solution to Amber's problem. They could kill whoever took her power in the first place, and maybe that would give Amber her strength back, but that would involve finding the woman, and essentially executing her. Summer wasn't okay with that, and very few people in the Brotherhood would be able to. James, maybe.

Maybe Summer could improve the efficiency of that cryopod. She didn't consider herself the best mechanical engineer, by Remnant's standards anyway, but she could pick out flaws in a system and correct them easily. Heck, if the Army wasn't decommissioning the Humvees, they'd be running at thirty-five miles-per-gallon because of her. She might be able to give Amber a few more weeks so they could come up with a _real_ plan. Then again, what were the odds that she'd be allowed into Atlas tech? James was a friend, but he still was under his kingdom's laws.

The Aura transfer was a mistake. Summer only had some bad movies to go off of, but they all ended up with one mind being destroyed completely, or both fighting for control of the body. The combination would make Pyrrha literally bipolar, if she survived.

Summer heard a bird's call behind her. She looked to her left just as a raven landed on that shoulder. The bird chittered a few times before rubbing its feathered head against Summer's cheek. "Hello Raven." Summer brought up her right hand and gently stroked her partner's head. "It's been a long time."

Before Raven could do anything else, Summer pinched her head between her thumb and index finger. Raven flared her wings and squawked but didn't struggle. "I wish I could say I was happy to see you, partner, but I'd be lying. You promised me you'd be there if anything happened to me, but left our girls to grow up without a mother. You better have a good explanation for this."

Summer threw the bird off her shoulder. Raven flapped a few times before falling to the roof. She transformed back into a human and lay sprawled across the room, her hair a mess. Raven lifted her head off the metal. A Grimm mask covered her face. "You're back with _them?"_ Summer accused.

"Not by choice." Raven took her mask off before she stood up. "It was this or-"

"There's _always_ a choice. If A or B are unappealing, chose C."

Raven grimaced and looked away. "You wouldn't understand. You've been gone too long."

"And during that time, you left Yang and Ruby alone with Tai."

"They turned out pretty well. I probably would have just messed it up."

"You were doing just fine with Yang before you left, and I thought you wanted to look after them."

"You think I don't?" Raven roared. She glared daggers at Summer. "It kills me that I let them grow up without a mother. I wish I could have been there when Yang broke her arm in two places when she was six, or when both of them were ambushed by Beowolves at our old barn. You want to know why I never came back? Take a look!" Raven reached into her jacket and jabbed several white squares in her partner's direction.

Summer took the pieces of paper and flipped them over. Her anger started to drain away. Pictures of Ruby and Yang as kids, taken from outside the house, or from behind a few trees. She looked at the one reason she would leave her family. "You were still getting these?"

"Option A: stop fighting the Nevermores and let them keep at their business. Option B: keep at them and risk the possibility of the girls being tortured, sold, and/or killed. Option C: have them think I want nothing to do with a family, but keep fighting. Yes, Yang and Ruby grew up without a mother, but at least they and dozens of others got to grow up."

Summer lowered her holding the pictures. "I get that, but why _them?"_ She gestured at Raven's mask. "You and Qrow ran away from them. I thought you wanted to take them down."

"I do…but things happened. The strong live, and the weak die."

Summer scoffed. "You believe that as much as I believe Ruby is ugly."

Raven lifted her head. "But others do. I challenged our leader to a duel, and won. I am now in charge of the tribe." Summer's jaw dropped. Before she could say anything, Raven rose a single finger. "As such, I choose the targets, I choose what to do with prisoners. Those closest to me believe I'm ruthless, when I reality I'm getting as many people away from those psychos as possible…when they're innocent anyway."

"…That's the Raven I know." Summer waked forward and gave her partner a hug. "I hoped you hadn't changed." Raven's muscles tensed up, but she eventually melted into the hug and returned it. Summer hadn't met a person that was immune to her hugs.

"It's good to see you again, Sum." Raven tightened her grip. "I almost joined Qrow at the bottom of a glass when you disappeared."

"I _did_ join Qrow for a bit." Summer shivered. "That was a time."

"Wait a minute." Raven pushed away. "You, Miss 'never going to touch a drop?'"

"Yeah…not proud of that time at all." Summer's scroll rang and she pulled it out. She read the message. Apparently Ruby and Yang were getting hungry. "Looks like I've got to go. You know if Wentz Sports Bar is still around?"

"I haven't been in Vale in years." Raven shook her head. "I don't have a clue."

"Well then, see you around sometime." Summer turned around and was about to teleport when she remembered something. She looked back to see Raven picking up her mask. "Hey Rae, Yang might be willing to start over. But after the tournament. Let her get resettled." Without waiting for a response, Summer looked at the ground and teleported away. Her family needed her.

* * *

 **I'll try to stay away from too much crossover with Volume 3. We all know what happens at this point.**


	15. Back In

**Hello everyone! This fic isn't dead, and people haven't killed me even though I killed their feels last week. Anyway, I have the same job I did last year, so I have time to write this on the job again, which is mainly how I wrote last year. Another reason for the long break besides college, I didn't know where I wanted this to go. I have a better idea now, but still no end goal, which really gives me the drive. Don't know how frequently this will be updated, but it will always be a Monday, and shouldn't take months.  
**

* * *

Summer opened her eyes and looked up at the semi-familiar wooden ceiling. It had been so long since she slept in her own bed. Despite not being extremely tired when she got home, she fell asleep on contact. The best sleep she'd had in years. She turned her head to the side and smiled. Tai probably had something to do with that as well. He laid on his back, dead to the world. This is also when Summer realized Tai had an arm beneath her neck and across her shoulders. _Yep. Best sleep in a long time._

She sat up and stretched her arms. _First full day back on Remnant. What to do?_ Summer looked back down at Tai. _I'm first up, I'll make breakfast._ If it wasn't for that fact, she'd plop back down and snuggle up next to Tai until he woke up. She slid out from under the covers doing her best not to wake Tai. Not bothering to change from her pajamas, she left the master and walked down to the main floor.

As soon as her foot left the last step, she heard a bark come from the kitchen. A black and white corgi ran out and right to Summer. Even though she had never met the dog until the night before, Zwei had already accepted her into the family. Summer just had that way with dogs, even ones the FBI and military said were too violent.

"Hey there, Zwei." Summer picked the dog and rubbed her nose against his. "You off to an early start too?" Zwei barked again and licked Summer's nose. Summer giggled then really _looked_ at the dog. Something felt off about him, like…his Aura was unlocked. But who would do that to a corgi? A German, er, Mistrili Shepard maybe. Then again, Tai and Qrow.

Summer shook her head and set the dog down. She walked into the kitchen and looked around. Tai had remodeled since the last time Summer was there. Then again, that old kitchen was falling apart. Still, it had a similar layout to what it was before. Hopefully everything was in a place at least close to last time. Opening one cupboard proved that wasn't the case.

She sighed and proceeded to search every last one for the ingredients for homemade chocolate chip pancakes. She still occasionally made them back on Earth for herself, but they just weren't the same without family and friends. But with Tai, and Qrow if he was still around, it was back to normal. If only Ruby and Yang were here…she'd say Raven too, but she didn't know if Raven and Tai would be at each other's throats.

When Summer put the pancakes on the griddle, she took out two more pots and pans. Time to wake up the troops the old-fashioned way. Just as she was about to teleport upstairs, she heard one of the doors open, followed by a deathly groan. Qrow appeared on the stairs a second later, holding his head in a hand. He looked up and his eyes bulged. "Please, Summer, don't. Not today."

"Then watch the pancakes while I wake up Tai." Summer walked past Qrow to give him slightly more time to guard his hungover ears. She waited a few seconds outside her door and raised her noise makers. She separated them as far as they could go in the narrow hall, then slammed them together repeatedly. "Wake up! Wake up! Food's on!"

Summer stopped making noise when she heard and felt something smack against the floor. She ran out of there before Tai could charge out. Qrow's and Zwei's groans filled the air. Summer entered the kitchen saw the two of them covering their ears in their own ways. "Come on Qrow, you knew it was coming."

"That doesn't make you any quieter." Qrow rubbed both sides of his head. "What the heck, Summer? You knew I was hungover."

"I did." Summer put her noise makers away. "Be glad I didn't fire my weapon."

"Don't make me think about that." Qrow opened the fridge. "Why doesn't Tai ever have any alcohol."

"Don't ask me, I've been gone for the past fifteen…thirteen years. Geez that's confusing." Summer flipped the pancakes then faced Qrow with her arms crossed. "So when did this start?"

"When'd what start? My headache?" Qrow glared at Summer.

"You're almost right. When'd you switch the orange soda for alcohol?"

Qrow grunted. "That's what this is about, huh? I suppose you're the one who took my flask."

"Yes I did, and you aren't getting it back until I say what I have to." Summer heard steps coming down the stairs. I looked like she wasn't going to have to repeat this anymore. "Consider this an intervention."

"Ever hear of withdrawals? They kind of suck."

Summer sighed as Tai stepped into the kitchen, looking surprisingly happy. She was about to kill that mood. "I know. But I powered through them. I've been sober about ten years."

Qrow's glare disappeared and his eyes became questioning. Tai's jaw hung open, the corners of his lips curling the opposite direction. "Did I miss something here?" Tai asked.

"A lot actually." Summer's shoulders slumped. "I told you about my time with the FBI, but I left out something that happened early on. There was one op where I was the only one who could get into a building. I took out all targets. As in _killed_ them. You know how I felt about that before I disappeared." Summer shivered. "I guess I didn't know how bad. It took the Grimm showing up for me to come back to my senses."

"How bad?" Tai asked, concern dripping from his mouth.

"I was only sober when on the job, and even then, that was questionable." Summer shook her head and turned the heat off the griddle. "Yeah, I know one heck of a way to start off the morning. I know. Ruby and Weiss heard the same thing around the same time. They weren't happy about it either. Yang knows too, and she kind of took it better, but not by much." Her head sunk as she remembered Ruby's face. She never wanted to see either of her girls like that again.

"But you're okay now?" Tai asked.

"Like I said, ten years sober." Summer shrugged. "Haven't touched a drop since. Don't know what would happen if I did." She straightened her neck, then looked at Qrow, "You never answered my question. When and why did this start?"

Qrow averted his eyes. "About a month after you were suspected dead. You and Raven disappearing at the same time did a number on me." Tai scowled at the mention of his ex-wife.

"Well I'm back now. That's one less reason to drink."

"I'm fine, Summer." Qrow's glare returned. "It doesn't affect me like that anymore."

"Oh really?" Summer crossed her arms. "So I still should struggle to best you?"

Qrow hesitated. "Yeah, but I don't think you'd win."

"Then let's make this interesting. I win, you go along with us and you switch back to orange soda. You win, this is the last time you'll hear me talk about this." Summer stuck a hand out to Qrow. "Deal?"

"Deal." Qrow squeezed Summer's hand and shook it. "Don't blame me if you get hurt."

"Don't worry. It won't come to that." Summer freed her hand then turned back to the still warm pancakes. "Before that, let's get some food in our stomachs. Give us some energy." She grabbed a few plates from a cabinet and served them up.

A hand fell on her shoulder. "You okay, Summer?" Tai whispered.

Summer tried to keep her smile. "Something tells me you don't mean me being able to kick Qrow's butt."

"Are you really off that? Is anything from then…permanent?"

"Not that I know of." Summer shook her head. "The FBI and Army cleared me of any lasting effects. No tattoos…and while I can't remember most of that time, I _know_ I wasn't with anyone else. I don't think I can have that much alcohol in me and live."

Tai's shoulders relaxed. "Good to know." He sniffed the air and a smile broke out on his face. "Smells just like I remember."

"I haven't gotten sloppy then." Summer picked up the plates and set them on the table. "I'll nuke the syrup, then we can dig in."

"Nuke?" Qrow asked. "Something you picked up on the other side?"

Summer blinked as she grabbed the syrup out of the cabinet. "Huh. I guess so. I'm used to living in a world with nuclear weapons."

"And what are those?" Tai asked.

Summer put the syrup in the microwave and set the timer. "Sorry if I don't sound so enthusiastic about these. In space, maybe. Not in atmosphere." Tai and Qrow exchanged a look, then gave Summer their undivided attention.

Their leader went on to describe nukes, fighter jets, tanks, and all other weapon tech that was similar to things on Remnant. Both of them appeared interested in gunpowder. Summer went into more detail than she did with James around. Gunpowder could propel bullets more than twice as fast as normal Dust. Combine that with a Dust bullet, any you've got one deadly combination. She also told them she could replicate it, something she didn't tell James. That could give the people gathered a huge advantage over the Grimm and other targets.

Even after everyone finished eating, they discussed various things, but most of it was about what happened in the years Summer was gone. She heard some of it from team RWBY, but these two had a better grasp on the situation. The White Fang is what shocked her the most. She'd been to a few rallies as security, and very few Faunus there, if any, had violent intentions. Then again, Ghira Belladonna stepped down. Things can change after a leadership change…Belladonna was a fairly common Faunus name, but now that Summer thought about it, there was a resemblance between Ghira and Blake.

"Enough stalling," Qrow finally said. "I thought you wanted to spar? Last I checked, sitting around talking isn't that."

Summer smirked. "Someone's eager to get his butt kicked." She stood up. "Give me a few minutes to change." She walked off to the master, not even stopping while she stroked Zwei's back. Two minutes later, she had her trademark white hood around her shoulders and over the rest of her combat outfit. She picked up Sun's Light and reached for her ammo. She would have picked that up too, but she realized she only had her special Grimm killing Earth bullets. Her Dust ones ran out years ago, and there wouldn't be any in the house. _Well, this could come down to a battle between the bullets._ She picked them up anyway. She knew Qrow's limits and he knew hers. Well, he _should._

She left the master and marched down the stairs and out of the house. Qrow stood in the center of the front yard leaning on his buster sword. He yanked his sword out of the ground and smirked at Summer. "Ready to be beaten by a real Huntsman for the first time in years?"

Summer looked around the Yard and smirked. "Is Peter here? I thought I heard him say he needed to be at Amity most of the day." She turned her head to Tai. "You make the call when the fight's over."

Tai nodded. "Will do." He turned his head between the two opponents. "You may begin when ready."

Summer returned her stare to Qrow. His Semblance was a tricky one to deal with. Bad luck followed him wherever he went. With that, Qrow didn't need to be the most skilled, he just needed to capitalize on someone else' misfortune. Too bad Summer didn't believe in bad luck or misfortune.

She charged her teammate, swinging her sword in front of her. Qrow moved his own to block. The two connected with a clang. Qrow's legs buckled. Summer didn't buy it. She pulled back and launched several quick strikes aimed at various parts of Qrow's body. None got through, but Summer could feel she was faster. She still had it.

Summer pushed herself away and looked straight up. She teleported about a dozen feet in the air Sun's Light switched to sniper form and Summer lined the small scope up with Qrow's chest. A finger brushed up against the trigger, and she hesitated. As far as she knew, her bullets had never been used against another Huntsman on Earth. What did they do to Aura? She shifted her aim to Qrow's shoulder and fired. The recoil kept her in the air while the bullet flew into Qrow's shoulder. His Aura flared but didn't collapse. These were safe to use for now.

Her aim shifted back to Qrow's chest and she fired three more times. Qrow barely blocked two of them, and the third made it through. Even with the added speed, the Qrow Summer knew would have been able to block all of them all without a problem. Then again, that could be his plan. He'd lulled Summer into a false sense of security before. It hadn't happened since.

Summer landed and shot Qrow a look of disappointment. "You're slow."

"I'm hungover!" Qrow shot back.

"That shouldn't make a difference." Summer ran forward and brought her sword back to strike. Qrow moved to block. Right before contact, Summer teleported behind Qrow and whipped herself around to slash at Qrow's back. He didn't even try to block. "Come on, Qrow. That's my oldest trick in the book. You didn't see that c-"

Summer felt metal connect with the back of her legs. They were swept out from beneath her, leaving her airborne. An elbow connected with her stomach and she slammed into the ground. Somehow, her breath wasn't stolen from her lungs. The point of Qrow's scythe rested a few inches in front of her eyes. "Actually, I did.' Qrow smirked. "You haven't been gone that long."

"Good." Summer returned the smirk. "I'd be worried if you didn't." She teleported directly above Qrow, then immediately teleported again, just missing Qrow's strike. Summer kept on teleporting around the clearing, not staying in one place for more than a second. She tried making it as random as possible, from being in a tree on the other side of the clearing to almost directly in Qrow's face.

She kept Sun's Light as a sniper and started adding shots to each position. Qrow managed to block most of them. It looked like all he needed was a warm up, but he still wasn't as fast as he needed to be.

Summer had enough playing around and teleported directly in front of Qrow. She kicked him in the chest and smacked his weapon hand away. Qrow tried to bring his sword around but Summer ducked under it. She backed away once more, flicking the switch on Sun's Light to the third position. As the blade started to spin, Summer held her weapon out in front of her.

Qrow's eyed widened at the sight. "That's new."

"I was bored." Summer shrugged and ran at Qrow. He easily dodged as Summer couldn't run as fast or swing her weapon like before. At the same time, all she needed to do was make direct contact and this spar would be over. Even if her weapon met Qrow's, her teammate would likely be disarmed.

Qrow took up a position at the far end of the yard and fired shell after shell from the end of his scythe. Summer had to teleport out of the way of each one. But the problem was, sometimes there was a shell waiting for her when she got there. Line of sight teleportation had its fair share of drawbacks, especially when someone else knew about it.

Still, Summer made progress. She left white rose petals all over the front lawn in a long zig zag pattern stretching to both sides. When Qrow had to reload, Summer looked directly at him and teleported inside his guard and caught his weapon in her saw. The scythe flew out of Qrow's hands and into the roof of the house. She turned her head to look Qrow in the eyes. "Do I really need to finish this?"

Qrow blinked, then sighed. "I concede."

"I think we've seen enough," Tai called from the other side of the yard, not hearing Qrow's and Summer's exchange.

Summer flicked the switch on Sun's Light and the blade slowed to a stop. She sheathed her weapon then crossed her arms. "Did you intentionally blow this? That was a rout and you know it."

"And you know I'm hungover."

"That shouldn't matter." Summer shook her head. "You're relying too much on your Semblance. All it takes to beat it is for someone to not believe in chance in combat. I don't know how all your fights have gone since I've been away, but that was just sad. You can, and _have_ done better. I don't think _Yang_ relies on her Semblance that much."

"So that's why you're always too busy to spar when I ask." Tai walked over and shook his head. "Didn't want to lose to the worst fighter on the team?"

"Something like that." Qrow shrugged. "Figured she'd be out of practice."

"I am," Summer assured. "The last time I sparred with a real Huntsman was six years ago when I had to prove to MI6 that Blue wasn't a pushover. I did spar with Weiss a day after I found her in Iraq, but that was just a show, and I really could have kicked her butt if I wanted to."

Summer rested a hand on Qrow's shoulder. "A deal's a deal. You work with us, and we get you back to peak form."

Qrow grunted. "Fine. Just don't expect me to go to an AR meeting."

"Okay. I'll drag you to an AA meeting on Earth." Summer smirked. "Never said anything about that."

"Don't push it, Sum," Qrow growled. "I'm already not happy about this."

"I don't expect you to be." Summer took out her Scroll and checked the time. A huge smile broke out on her face. "Now if you excuse me, I've got to meet the girls before they go to Amity Colosseum. They just don't know it yet."

* * *

"So which you of you are going on?" Ruby ask the entirety of team JNPR as her team walked with them to the docks.

"Nora and Pyrrha," Jaune announced. "Heaviest hitter combined with our most skilled fighter. I think that's a winning combination."

"That," Ren started, "and Jaune didn't want to go on and Nora kept pestering me."

"Hey!" Nora put her hands on her hips. "Don't be like that! We all know I'm the MVP of the first round. I'm the only one to knock out all four members of the enemy team out of _everyone_ in the tournament! One of only six people in history to do so!" She puffed her chest out. "That's going to be on sports shows replays for months!"

"That was insane!" Yang agreed. "Nice job confusing them like that. What were you even doing there."

"Being confused ourselves," Pyrrha explained. "There was a little miscommunication on our team attacks."

Jaune sighed. "When the tournament's done, we're going to go over all of them again. I mean, it worked out in the end, but for a while there we looked like a bunch of idiots."

"You're lucky BRNZ didn't take advantage of your confusion," Weiss scolded. "At least one of you would have been taken out, then you'd have to face a full team down one member."

"Pft." Nora waved a hand at Weiss. "We could have taken them, even if we were down Jaune."

"What makes you think that I'd be the first out?" Jaune asked. Everyone just stared at him, and he sighed. "Yeah, you're right."

"You have come a long way," Blake encouraged. "How many Ursai have you taken down by yourself now?"

"Quite a few." Jaune straightened out. "Maybe if we had to face CRDL in a Civil War match, I could beat Cardin."

"That's the spirit." Pyrrha rested a hand on Jaune's shoulder.

Weiss crossed her arms. "Be glad you had this breakdown in a controlled environment. If this happened in the wild, who knows what could happened?"

"She's right you know," a familiar voice said behind Ruby. A hand fell on her shoulder and her smile doubled in size. "And you never know who can sneak up behind you when you're not paying attention."

Ruby turned around and looked up at her mom. She whipped her head back to her friends. "Team JNPR, meet my mom!" Ruby wrapped a single arm around her mom and pulled her into a sideways hug.

"It's good to meet you, JNPR." Her mom smiled at the other team. "The girls have told me a lot about you."

"Only the good things." Yang hugged her mom as well. "What are you doing here? I thought we were going to meet you in the Colosseum."

"Benefits of having a teleportation Semblance. But I can leave and meet you there if you want."

"Nope." Ruby pulled her mom in tighter. "Besides, I thought you wanted to meet these guys."

"That I do." Summer nodded.

"Are you sure one of you isn't a clone." Nora pointed between Ruby and Summer. "You two look _exactly_ the same."

Ruby and her mom exchanged a look, and both of them giggled. "Who am I? Jango…er…Fango Jet?" Summer asked.

"We're not _exactly_ alike." Ruby pulled on her hood. "I wear red, she wears white."

"I use a sword, she uses a scythe." Summer shook her head. "We're not alike at all."

"Nope! Not one bit!" Ruby shook her head. Trying and most likely failing to hold back a smile.

Everyone else started at the two. "There's two of them." Weiss breathed.

Mother and daughter exchanged another look. "Or is there only one?" they said at the same time with the same inflection. They stood silent for a second, then bust out laughing.

"This is what I'm going to have to live with." Yang gestured at Ruby and Summer.

"Something tells me you'll love it," Pyrrha said with a smile.

"I wasn't complaining. It's gonna be awesome!"

"I hate to break this up," Blake cut in, "But out transport is about to leave."

Ruby forced herself to stop laughing. "Then let's get going. Don't want Pyrrha and Nora to be late." The nine people half walked half jogged to Beacon's airship docks. Only a single Bullhead sat there at the moment, but it looked like one was flying in. Still, that one wouldn't get to the Colosseum until after the first fight of the second round. Better to get there ahead of time than late.

They approached the Bullhead and the crewman that stood outside held up a hand. "Sorry, ma'am, this transport is for students only."

Ruby's shoulders slumped, then she turned to her mom. "See you up there?"

"You know it." Summer ruffled Ruby's hair. The pressure disappeared in a flash of rose petals, startling everyone who hadn't seen it before.

"Now _that's_ a fast way to travel." Ruby turned her head up to the colosseum. Her mom probably made it up there in one go. She got on the transport and grabbed one of the bars above her head.

The doors closed and the transport lifted off the ground. Only teams RWBY and JNPR were on this transport. Perfectly fine with Ruby. Yang leaned over and whispered in Ruby's ear, "I don't want to sound rude, but don't you think you're being a little…clingy?"

Ruby's good mood tanked. Her head dipped but her eyes met Yang's. Yang also crouched so Ruby could whisper in her ear. "There were times back there that I thought I was dreaming in a coma." Yang stiffened but didn't say anything. "I want to believe I'm this is real, but you know unbelievable that all was. But if its not…I want as much time with her until I wake up.'

Yang smiled sympathetically. "You've watched too many movies." She ruffled Ruby's hair. "This is all real. If not, Spruce Willis will be up there talking with mom about, I don't know, horse racing."

Ruby allowed herself a small laugh. She straightened up and punched Yang in the shoulder. "That's dark humor if I've ever heard it."

"What can I say?" Yang shrugged, playing along. "Being stranded in Grimm territory with no backup can do that to you." With the door to the cockpit open, it was probably a good thing Yang went with the cover story.

The rest of the conversation in the Bullhead turned to small talk. Apparently, every member of JNPR had kept their grades up even while searching for RWBY. Jaune even said his went up. Ruby didn't know how that was possible. Then again, it may have given him drive so he could help more. That, and Pyrrha pushing him.

"Oh! You guys want to hear about the time I wrestled a Borbatusk?" Nora suddenly asked. Almost immediately after, the floor tilted and the Bullhead came to a stop. Nora's shoulders slumped. "Maybe next time."

"Don't feel down, Nora." Pyrrha put a hand on her teammate's shoulder. "You'll need to be at full strength for our fight."

Nora's face brightened. "Of course! Can't keep me down! This will be a victory for team JNPR!"

"You better," Yang joked. "The more people Beacon has in the finals, the better."

The doors opened and Ruby stepped out. "What happened to the team that replaced us anyway? They still in?"

"They got destroyed." Jaune shook his head as his team left the Bullhead. "Team ABRN means business."

"That doesn't mean we wouldn't have a shot," Blake said, right behind JNPR. "Their styles might have lined up just right."

"I believe it was more underestimation," Ren said. "Our guys were overconfident going in, and that was their downfall."

"So I take is CRDL's out?" Weiss asked.

"No." Pyrrha scowled. "Three members of the team they faced were Faunus. They showed only enough mercy to not be disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct." Ruby saw Blake's bow twitch. She couldn't blame her teammate. Those guys were complete jerks.

Nora grabbed Pyrrha's arm and pulled. "Come on! We gotta go!" Nora half dragged Pyrrha away toward a sign that said contestants only.

Ruby faced the rest of her team and the remaining two from JNPR. "Me and Yang are going to sit with our mom for this. You guys are welcome to join us."

Weiss and Blake exchanged a look. "We'll let you guys have some family time." Weiss said.

"We actually agreed to sit with Fox and Velvet," Jaune admitted. "Us Beacon teams need to stick together, unless we get a second-round Civil War."

"That would be something. Catch you guys later!" Ruby kept her shoulders from slumping. It would have been nice for the She and Yang left the students only hangar and into the packed main concourse. "Now where is she?" Ruby craned her neck to try and look over the crowd. She _really_ hoped she'd hit a growth spurt soon, for more than one reason.

"Over there.' Yang pointed to a relatively clear spot on the floor. Sure enough, their mom was staring at one of the new Atlesian Knights, a hand on her chin. The robot didn't move a servo under the inspection. "I swear, if she reacts the same way you do, _I'll_ start to wonder if you're a clone of her." She clapped a hand on Ruby's back and walked forward. "Hey mom! Those things aren't for sale. Try a store downtown."

Summer turned her head to Yang and smirked. "Really? You mean these numbers aren't the price tags?" She pointed to a long string of numbers on the side of the Knight's head. "I thought they were a little expensive."

"We were all there when they were first deployed in a Kingdom," Ruby proudly announced. "We did most of the work before they showed up, but they were good a cleanup."

"Really? That's the one you call the Breach, right?" Ruby nodded, and her mom turned back to the robot. "AK-200. Sure beats an AK-47."

Ruby's smile disappeared. "AK-47. Where have I heard of that before…" After a few seconds of thought, she snapped her fingers. "Russian assault rifle!"

"Yep. One of the best made in existence. It even puts some of Atlas' to shame." Summer looked past Ruby. "None of your friends are joining us?"

"They wanted us to have some family time." Yang shrugged. "Perfectly fine with me."

" _Your attention please,"_ Professor Port's voice boomed through the concourse, _"the second round will be starting in five minutes. Please take your seats."_

"Huh." Summer cocked her head. "I forgot they did that here. Sure would be nice to have that on the other side."

"They don't do announcements over there?" Ruby asked as her family started walking toward the bowl.

"Not time wise, though that would be nice in a few places." Mother looked down at her daughters. "This is both of your first times here, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Yang looked around the concourse. "So far, not too different from the Griffons' stadium downtown."

"Uh, Griffons?" Their mom cocked her head.

"The baseball team," Ruby explained. "They changed their name a few years ago when they built the new stadium. Can't remember why."

"Oh. That's different." The three walked into the bowl. "Well girls, Welcome to Amity Colosseum!"

Ruby's jaw dropped as she looked around. The screen didn't do the place justice. The place was _huge!_ From battlefield to roof, it had to be taller than most buildings in downtown Vale. Most of it was filled to the brim with seats. "How many people can fit in here?"

"A hundred thousand, I think," her mom said. "And I won it all in front of a sold out crowd. Ah, good times."

"A hund…" Ruby's head sunk between her shoulders. Maybe it was a good thing she wasn't in the tournament. She wasn't good in front of people. At least people watching at home wouldn't see absolutely everything she did.

"Let's find a seat before all the good ones are taken." Summer led Ruby and Yang to the students and Huntsmen section right off the arena. "Oz got me a pass in. Hopefully won't have to show any ID. My Huntsman license expired thirteen years ago and I don't think they take FBI ID or a New York drivers license."

Luckilly, no one checked her ID with her pass from Ozpin. The three of them got front row seats. The sisters sat on either side of their mom. Ruby tried to find where the rest of her team was sitting. It took a while, but she spotted Weiss and Blake sitting by Sage and Neptune. Ruby had only met those two briefly before her team's mission to the Emerald Forest, and they seemed nice enough. Sun and Neptune must be moving on for SSSN.

Ruby looked up at one of the four projected screens. At the moment they were going through an ad for Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes. Thankfully it was Spruce Willis on the box art, not Pyrrha. That could have been awkward all around.

Then _she_ appreared on the screen. Ruby jumped in her seat at the sight of seeing herself, her mom, and her sister on the jumbotron. Then she noticed the screen was split in half, and that Weiss and Blake were on the other side. It looked like everyone else was just as surprised. Underneath them all ran the words 'Welcome Back Team RWBY.'

A dull applause grew in strength all around. Ruby tried to make her head sink fully between her shoulders. She gave a weak and nervous smile and saluted the crowd. A hand wrapped around her side and pulled her in the other direction. "Come on, Ruby, smile for the crowd!" Her mom encouraged. Just like that, her smile became real and grew. When Ruby looked back up to the screens, she was gone and the cameras moved on.

"Well, that was unexpected," Ruby sighed.

"And they didn't mention me." Her mom crossed her arms and shook her head. "I guess someone who's missing for several years showing up doesn't merit as much attention as a freshman team returning after a few weeks."

"Give it time, mom," Yang said. "There's plenty of tournament left."

" _Ladies and gentlemen,"_ Port's voice boomed in the bowl, _"welcome back to the Vytal Festival Tournament."_

" _We are about to begin the second round,"_ Doctor Oobleck's voice added. _"The advancing teams are down to two members each."_

" _The contestants and battlefield is ready. Who will be the first to fight for their school?"_ The four giant screens had two black boxes on each side of the word 'vs' in a yellow explosion graphic. The boxes spun vertically and face shots of the contestants sped by. Ruby thought she saw Penny a few times in there. It was good to know she was still in.

The boxes stopped and Ruby pumped a fist. _"Nora and Pyrrha of Beacon vs Emerald and Mercury of Haven."_

"Well, Pyrrha's got Merc down." Yang leaned back in her chair. "Unless he's improved since they last spared, he's going down fast."

"Just to warn you two," Summer stuck a defensive hand toward both her daughters, "I tend to get a little crazy at sporting events."

"How crazy?" Ruby asked.

"If I have a voice when I leave, I'm doing it wrong."

Ruby pumped a fist again and Yang sighed. "Mom, are you sure Ruby isn't a clone of you?"

"I'm sure. I was a little shorter than her when I was her age."

"Yes!" Ruby pumped a fist. "I'm not going to be short forever!"

That drew a laugh from her two family members. Yang looked out to the field and stopped abruptly. "Hey, where are Emerald and Mercury?"

Ruby turned to the battlefield. Pyrrha and Nora stood out there, but there was no sign of their opponents. Ruby looked from one end of the arena to the other, but her friends were the only two out there. "That's…different."

Her mom leaned forward. "This almost happened for my team our first year in the tournament, except Qrow was the only one missing. He made it before the time ran out, but only just."

"How long's the wait?" Yang asked.

"Since every contestant is supposed to be in the tunnels before this round starts, five minutes after the battle is announced."

A single person ran into the arena behind Pyrrha and Nora. The two students closed the distance. They had a small conversation, Ruby thought she saw Nora's shoulders slump. Just as quickly, she sprang up and motioned between herself and Pyrrha. The man shook his head, and Nora's whole body slumped. The man walked off the battlefield and out of the arena completely.

A few more minutes went by with no more action. _"It appears Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black forfeit the match,"_ Professor Port announced sounding disappointed.

" _Nora_ _Valkyrie or Pyrrha Nikos will go onto the finals representing team JNPR and Beacon Academy,"_ Doctor Oobleck finished. On the screens, Mercury's and Emerald's pictures faded out and flew off the side. Nora's and Pyrrha's brightened and moved to the center.

"Well, that's not how you want to win a match." Ruby rested her head on her hands as she watched Nora and Pyrrha walk out.

"Any guessed on what happened?" Yang asked.

"They might have missed the transport." Ruby shrugged. "We almost did."

"Come on, you can be more creative than that." Her mom tilted her head. "How about they're involved in some less than legal thing and they're running from the Vale Police and Atlas military?"

"Those two?" Yang laughed. "Well, Mercury maybe. Not Emerald. She's too nice for that."

* * *

 **Well, that's different. Another plan is in action.  
**


	16. Testing

**For the longest time I thought this was a train wreck (still do in some ways, honestly). But apparently its the Super 8 kind of train wreck because people are liking this... That's a common theme with my school papers too... Ah well, let's keep going.  
**

* * *

"So what did that guy talk to you about on the field yesterday?" Ruby asked Nora and Pyrrha.

"Oh, just the procedure for what happens if contestants don't show up." Pyrrha shrugged. "I wish we could have been reshuffled, but there were an odd number of teams. It was either one team gets a bye, or one team fights twice."

"I would have been fine with going two rounds." Nora held the back of her head in her hands. "I tried to get us an exhibition round to decide who goes onto the finals, but apparently the arena wasn't set up for one-on-ones yet. We could have just fought sumo style on the bare surface and be fine."

"What happened to Emerald and Mercury anyway?" Pyrrha asked.

"Me, Yang, and mom came up with some pretty crazy ideas." Ruby tried to hold back a laugh. "I think the best was they were abducted by aliens who don't want a Haven team to win. Team SSSN better watch out."

"What's it like having your mom back anyway?" Nora stuck a finger at Ruby. "I still think one of you is a clone."

Ruby's smile threatened to break off her face. "She's amazing! I always hoped this would happen! I knew she was just MIA, but the gravestone back on Patch made it seem final. But nope! She's here, and she's just as Yang remembers! I'd say me, but I was like, two. I can't remember any of that. But the cookies! I do remember those, and they're the best! And she's an awesome Huntress! We fought side by side in Frisco. I told you about that, right? She's also the best Huntress on the other side to. There was one time she-"

"Slow down, Ruby." Pyrrha laughed. "Take a breath. We get the point."

"Oh." Ruby rubbed the back of her head. "I guess I got a little carried away."

"Do you like that guy?" Nora asked. "You talked about him a lot?"

"Who? Fred? Yeah, he was a nice guy, and he saved my life."

"Anything beyond that?" Nora smirked and raised her eyebrows twice.

"What? Ew! No! He's like twenty-one! I think that's illegal both here and there."

Nora shrugged. "Had to check."

The weapons range came into view from behind the forge and Ruby broke off toward it as Nora and Pyrrha continued to the cafeteria. "I'll see you guys later!" Ruby called as they separated. Pyrrha and Nora waved and then resumed talking to each other.

Ruby pushed open the door to the range. The lobby was empty, but that was no surprise. The man behind the counter looked up and gestured to the gun range. "Your sister's already inside."

"Sister?" Ruby shook her head. Yang was back in the gym. "She's not my sister, but thanks anyway." She walked to the wall by the gun range and picked up a set of ear muffs. These really made no sense to Ruby. Why have ear muffs here and not even ear plugs elsewhere? Then again, this was indoors, with typically a lot of people inside. It could get loud fast.

Ruby entered the range proper and blinked. Seeing this place empty was strange. Only her mom stood at any of the stalls. It was tournament time, but still. The one-on-one fights didn't start until that night. Someone on campus had to be bored without classes.

Her mom backed away from her stall and ejected the magazine from Sun's Light. She looked up from her weapon and smiled at Ruby. "You're early."

"I try. You wanted to see me?"

"I still do." Summer walked to one of the tables in the back of the range. She set her weapon down and picked up a much larger gray and red magazine. This one looked like it would fit Crescent Rose. "I've been able to recreate the gunpowder I made on Earth. As far as I can tell, it has all the same properties as it did on the other side. The only difference is these rounds have Dust bullets. Theoretically, it's the best of both worlds. Earth speed, Remnant effects." She held the magazine out to Ruby. "I whipped up a mag for you. Standard Burn bullets."

Ruby's smile faded as she grabbed the new mag. She ejected one of the bullets and inspected it. The bullet itself was nothing new, a normal armor piercing .50 cal Burn Dust bullet. The casing was new. Ruby saw similar ones back on Earth. It had the same basic shape to the rounds on Remnant, but was completely brass. Inside, supposedly was the power her mom invented.

Ruby took one of the mags from her belt and ejected a round from that as well. She set both rounds on the table and crouched so the points were at eye level. She grabbed both and checked the weight. The gunpowder one was slightly lighter, but it shouldn't affect her aim or accuracy. Next she held the two side by side, then on top of each other. Their profiles were exactly the same. Chambering the rounds wouldn't be a problem.

"Is there anything else I should know about before I put these in my sweetheart?" Ruby asked, finally taking her eyes off the rounds.

Her mom put Sun's Light on the table and removed the blade/barrel. "I haven't figured out how to stop it yet, but you'll need to clean the barrel a little more often. Also, this isn't the exact stuff the police and military have access to. This has a little extra kick so we can still use the recoil to our advantage."

Ruby's eyes shifted to her mom's weapon. "You've been testing this on Sun's Light?'

"I wouldn't give you that unless I could trust it in my own weapon. So far, it hasn't blown up in my face."

"Alright." Ruby pushed the experimental bullet back into its mag. Then she drew Crescent Rose and slammed the magazine home. "How'd you get the mag right?" Ruby asked.

Her mom winced. "I wish I could say that I'm just that good, but…remember when the FBI took her apart? I have the schematics from that."

"Oh." Ruby though for a second, then shrugged. "Well, as long as they're not trying to recreate her. Earmuffs on. Don't want to make the quartermaster mad." She put her own on and raised her weapon. A holographic Beowolf appeared at the far end of the range and Ruby ticked off the safety. She breathed out and pulled the trigger.

Her weapon kicked back normally, but everything else was different. The sound was more metallic. It smelled smokier as well. The muzzle flash was a yellowish-white, usually reserved for lightning Dust. The bullet itself shot out faster than Ruby thought possible. She lowered her weapon and ticked the safety on.

The screen on the stall wall showed where the bullet hit and the expected damage that would be done. Ruby smiled at the dark red impact spot in the center of the Grimm's mask, and the lighter red affected area, which by the look of it, meant the Beowolf no longer had a head. Usually a single round could only do that to Creeps or young Beowolves without bone armor, not matured ones.

Ruby messed with a few options on the panel and several more Grimm appeared downrange, the largest being an Ursa major. Might as well see what the expected results are on multiple. She ticked off the safey again and took aim. She fired shot after shot at the holograms. After a few shots, she fell into a rhythm. Head, shoulder, torso, leg. Each of these Grimm would be dead if they were real several times over, but Ruby needed to know the predicted effects for each spot.

Crescent Rose clicked one knee short. But then again, it was a Creep. It would have lost at least the leg. Ruby ticked the safety on again and lowered her weapon. She looked over the chart again and her jaw dropped. It looked like the headshot alone on the Ursa Major would kill it.

She smiled as she faced her mom, who already had her earmuffs off. "I like these bullets." Ruby took off her own as she approached the table.

"May I see?" Her mom gestured to the score screen.

"Knock yourself out." Ruby laid Crescent Rose on the table and began the process of disassembling her. She needed to know if anything was damaged with the unfamiliar bullets. Once she pulled the barrel out, she sniffed it and grimaced. That would _definitely_ need some cleaning.

Her mom whistled behind her. "Amazing what a difference the propellant makes. I'd like to see what you can do to armored vehicles now."

"That good, huh?" Ruby turned to face her mom. Summer held a hand to her chin, nodding at the screen in front of her.

"Yes." Her mom smirked. "You know, if I started mass producing this and work with some independent Dust refineries, I could make enough of these to eventually compete with the SDC."

"I'm not sure if Weiss would like that or not." Ruby turned back to hear weapon. "I don't suppose you have a cleaning rag on you?"

"Wait, you _don't_ have something on you that improves your weapon?"

"It's back in my room," Ruby defended. "It's just, I didn't expect to get my sweetheart so dirty."

"Oh, Ruby, Ruby, Ruby." Said person turned around to see her mom shaking her head with a smile on her face. "You've still got a lot to learn. If you have your weapon on you, you need to have what you need to care for your weapon too. If you're not out in Grimm territory, it doesn't have to be much, but something's better than nothing. A Swiss Army knife or a multi-tool should be good enough, and in this case, an old wash cloth." She smirked. "Or your hood could work too."

Ruby snatched her hood away from her mom. "Uh, uh. Nope! No way!"

Her mom laughed. "I'm just teasing." She ruffled Ruby's hair. "That's only a last, _last_ resort." She slid a small pouch across the table. "I've got a fresh one in here."

"Thanks." Ruby opened the pouch and pulled out one of her dad's old shirts, or at least part of it. It would work until Ruby made it back to her room to give Crescent Rose a proper bath.

Something Nora said earlier triggered something in Ruby's head. "Uh, mom? Random question, what are gun laws like in the US?"

"They're…all over the place. Some states only allow hand guns, others are okay with anything except maybe things that need to be mounted on a heavy vehicle. With the Grimm around, only a few states restrict it to handguns. Be glad we were in Texas, not New York."

 _Okay, that's most likely out._ "What about melee weapons?"

Her mom cocked her head. "Only specific kinds are banned, and most of them are knives. People can order swords off Amazon no problem." She smirked at Ruby. "Why the sudden interest? Planning on going back and opening a weapon shop?"

"No. It's just…I never properly thanked Fred for saving my life. I want to do something nice for him."

"And giving him a weapon is your idea of being nice?" Her mom smirked.

"Not only a weapon. I think he mentioned something about his trombone having 'slide cancer' or something like that. Whatever that it is, it doesn't sound good. So I was thinking about making him a new one…with something else built in if it's not illegal where he is."

"Hmmm, Republican North Dakota, Democrat Minnesota…then again Duluth…" Her mom made a straight line with her fingers through the air. "I believe North Dakota is one of the states that's allowing limited weapon possession on college campuses. Just nothing too flashy…and I may have to help him get a permit for whatever it is, because it's technically a concealed weapon."

Ruby wiped a hand across her forehead. "Good. I was hoping for at least a sword." She pulled the used shirt out of the barrel and looked down. She got as much gunk out of there as she could, but she's need something a little longer to get to the center. She reassembled her weapon and folded it up. "So, I've got nothing to do until the finals." She looked up at her mom. "If you have time, could we…spar?"

In that moment, her mom's face could have served as a lighthouse. "I've been waiting for you to ask!"

"Then let's go!" Ruby cheered. She and her mom left the range and hung their earmuffs up with the rest. Ruby had to force herself from skipping. She was about to spar with her mom for the first time _ever!_ Her dad and Uncle Qrow continually said Summer was the best fighter on their team. Ruby was about to learn from the best Huntress _ever!_

Her mom's Scroll ringing put a damper on those thoughts. She rolled her eyes. "What do you want, Qrow?" She brought the Scroll up to her ear. "Summer." A few second later, she stopped in place. "What?...No. Don't let them do anything until I get there."

Ruby stiffened up. "Trouble?"

"Yes, but not the kind you can help with." Summer rested a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "We'll spar tomorrow. I promise. It would take an attack on Vale to keep me away another day."

"Okay." Ruby's shoulders slumped. "You'll still be in the stands, right?"

"Of course." Summer hugged Ruby who eagerly returned it. "I'd like to know what your generation can do."

Ruby pulled away. "A lot. Just wait till you see what Penny can do."

"Another one of your friends?"

"Yeah. We met first Semester, but she's actually from Atlas. I don't know why she was here so early." She backed away. "I won't keep you up. Say hi to Uncle Qrow for me."

"I will. See you later." Her mom turned around and started walking toward the center of Beacon.

Ruby walked in the exact opposite direction. Maybe Nora and Pyrrha wouldn't mind an extra person.

* * *

Contrary to how she left Ruby, Summer was _not_ in a good mood. She wasn't angry at Qrow, Ozpin, James, or anyone else in their little band. She was mad at the hand they were dealt. She was mad at whoever attacked Amber in the first place. And of course, she was mad at Salem and whatever minions she had for making this a problem in the first place.

Summer entered the CCT tower and marched toward the elevator to Ozpin's office. Glynda and James were already waiting for the elevator. "Sorry I'm late," she said as she joined the two.

Glynda slightly turned her head. "It's no problem. We were delayed after a scuffle near the docks."

"Students getting in some 'extra practice?'" That was a common excuse that Qrow and Raven had when they were a little too mad at each other.

"Apparently one student said something off color to another and had to set things right." James shook his head. "Some things don't change no matter where you are."

"I don't know about Atlas, but a bunch of guys I worked with on the other side had some pretty extreme personalities that clashed." Summer shrugged. "At least they knew to can it when out on mission." James grunted in what sounded like agreement.

The elevator doors opened and the three Huntsmen stepped inside. Glynda pushed the button to Ozpin's office and Summer leaned against the back wall. James crossed his arms. "I hope this doesn't overwhelm Miss Nikos."

"From what Ruby's told me about her," Summer started, "it takes a lot to phase Pyrrha. Heck, she said she's only seen Pyrrha worried once, and that was when a member of her team was in trouble."

Glynda nodded. "I believe I know the event you're talking about, Summer, but I believe this may be too much for even her.

The elevator doors opened, revealing Pyrrha sitting in front of Ozpin's desk, with Ozpin himself across from her and Qrow leaning against a pillar…holding a bottle of orange soda. At least one thing was going right.

"Sorry we're late," James said while straightening his tie. He and Glynda stepped out of the elevator and Summer pushed herself off the back wall.

"Wait," Pyrrha faced Ozpin again, "what is this? Who are you?"

"You know who we are," Glynda said calmly. "We're still the same teachers and headmasters you met when you arrived at Beacon."

Qrow stepped away from the pillar. "'Cept we've got a little part time job."

"We are the protectors of this world," James said matter of factly.

"And we need your help," Ozpin finished.

 _Well, these guys aren't making it easy to say no._ Summer could only watch as Pyrrha looked at everyone in the room, growing more concerned by the second.

Eventually Pyrrha's shoulders slumped. "What do you need me to do?"

"Come with us." Ozpin stood up from his desk. He started walking toward the elevator. All six people crammed into the small car, with Summer directly behind Pyrrha. The poor girl rubbed an arm and hung her head the whole way. Since no one else was going to comfort, or at least reassure her, Summer placed a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder and squeezed. Pyrrha turned her head back and nodded in Summer's direction.

Pyrrha turned her head in the other direction to Glynda. "Where are we going?"

"The vault, under the school," Ozpin answered.

Not long after, the elevator stopped and the door opened to reveal the same dark, green fire lit tunnel Summer saw on her first day back. Everyone but her and Pyrrha stepped out. Pyrrha took her time, but she did step out, and Summer walked by her side.

"Let me guess, a lot of questions?" Summer asked.

"Maybe one or two." Pyrrha looked around the vault. "I still don't understand. Ozpin said I was next in line to receive the maiden's power. What do you mean by that?"

 _Did he now?_ "The maidens have existed for thousands of years. But like how the seasons change, and pardon the expression, no two summers are alike. When a maiden dies, her power seeks a new host. The maidens will only truly die when all life of Remnant is extinguished." Summer turned to Pyrrha and saw the younger woman gawking at her. "What?"

"Are you…"

"The Summer maiden? No. I was more likely to be the Winter maiden, believe it or not. She was a family friend before she passed."

"Oh." Pyrrha looked down again. "So the power chooses someone the host knows?"

"It can be." Summer shrugged.

"Through a series of stupid and convoluted rules," Qrow shot back.

"Qrow!" Summer and Glynda scolded at the same time.

"Hey don't get mad cause I'm right." Qrow's shoulders slouched and he kept on walking.

Summer shook her head. "At first, we only knew that the powers were passed to a young woman. As time went on, the process was a little more…intimate for lack of a better word."

Pyrrha hesitated. "Intimate?"

"As far as we can tell, when a maiden dies, the power finds whoever was in the last thoughts is the first pick for the powers."

"Unless it's a dude," Qrow chimed in, "or some old hag." Summer saw the perfect set up for a joke, but now wasn't the time. "Then the power goes to someone random and our jobs get a lot harder"

"Why tell me all of this now?" Pyrrha asked. "Why not wait until I've graduated?"

Qrow shrugged. "Honestly, we've run out of time. I don't know if you've noticed but things are getting a lot scarier out in the world. Tensions are high. Grimm are growing stronger, more prevalent. And it's not gonna much longer before this peace we've all been enjoying so much goes out the window."

"You're not talking about…war?" Pyrrha shuddered.

"Not a war between nations." James, as leader of the Atlesian military, should know. Summer wasn't an expert on Remnant politics even before she disappeared, but considering the Vytal Festival was still going on, tensions couldn't be too bad between Kingdoms. Then again, the Olympics were held in Berlin before WWII.

"We can fill you in on the details once we know you're with us," Qrow explained. "For now, all you need to know is that one of the maidens was attacked, and for the first time in history, part of her power was stolen."

The group stopped in front of the two cryopods. Pyrrha focused on the one with someone in it. "Is that…" she trailed off.

Ozpin sighed. "The current Fall maiden. Amber."

"She's…still alive."

James nodded. "For now. We're using state of the art Atlas technology to keep her stable, but there is a lot about this situation which is unprecedented."

"What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked.

James sighed. "Well, we don't know what will happen if-when she passes."

"Won't her power just transfer to the next host?"

"Look who's been listening!" Qrow said. He leaned closer to Ozpin. "She is smart." Summer glared at the back of Qrow's head. Now was not the time for jokes.

"Normally yes," Summer said. "but this is different. It's quite possible for the victim's last thoughts to be of their attacker, who likely already has half the power."

James nodded. "To make matters worse, no one's ever seen the power split like this before. For all we know, it will seek out its other half."

"Her assailant." Pyrrha shivered.

Ozpin turned to face Pyrrha. "And that would not bode well for any of us."

Pyrrha stayed silent and walked forward. She placed a hand of the glass of the cyropod. She turned on everyone else in the room. "If all of this is true, why keep it secret? If this girl is so important, if…if we're truly on the brink of war, why not tell everyone?"

Glynda stepped forward. "From what we understand, it used to be common knowledge."

Pyrrha shot a weak glare at the professor. "Excuse me?"

"How do you think legends and fairy tales get started? Even the craziest ones come from somewhere." Qrow opened his soda and took a swig. "Man I missed this stuff," he said as a whisper.

"Our group was founded in order to protect both mankind and the maidens," Glynda continued. "Those hungry for power hunted them with the hope of inheriting their strength."

Summer crossed her arms. "Assassins. Not the kind of people that you want having unimaginable power." _Not that they can get past me...or Ruby…Hopefully it won't come to that._

"And so this brotherhood chose to remove the maidens from the public eye," James said. "Allowing their existence to fade away into legend."

"The things we're telling you go against hundreds of years of human history, religion," Glynda explained.

"No one would want to believe us." James shook his head. "It would cause and uproar."

"It would cause panic." Ozpin glared at James.

Summer rolled her eyes and didn't pay attention to what Oz said to James. _Remnant would have the Avengers. Oz, the maidens, me, Ruby, and anyone else out there who has silver eyes._

"I'll do it," Pyrrha said, snapping Summer out of her trance. "If you believe this will help humanity, then I will become your Fall maiden." Summer's shoulders slumped. Pyrrha hadn't heard anything about the transfer, which was the dangerous part. The others exchanged glances but said nothing. Pyrrha looked between them all. "That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

"It is," Ozpin started, "but I'm afraid it's not that simple. Given Amber's condition, you won't be able to inherit her power naturally. However, General Ironwood believes he has a solution." Ozpin nodded at James.

"For the past few years, Atlas has been studying aura from a more scientific standpoint. How it works; what it's made of; how it can be used. We've made significant strides, and we believe we've found a way to capture it."

"Capture it, and cram it into something else." Qrow shrugged. "Or in your case…"

It took a few seconds, but Pyrrha looked terrified. "That's-"

"Classified," James interrupted. Summer glared at him _That's_ what he was worried about? It's not like there were more of these…

 _James, what have you been doing?_

"Wrong!" Pyrrha finished.

"We couldn't agree more." Summer shook her head. "If I was here a few weeks ago, we wouldn't be having this conversation. As it is, I haven't been able to come up with that these guys haven't, or takes less time than Amber has left.

"We can't transfer Amber's powers to you," James started, "but we can give you what those powers are bound to."

"Her Aura." Pyrrha nodded.

"Her life would become intertwined with yours," Ozpin explained. "The question is…"

"What's that going to do to you?" Qrow finished.

"You have an important decision before you Miss Nikos," Ozpin continued. "There's no guarantee this transfer will work, and there's no telling if you will be the same person if it does. I advise you to take time to think on this matter. But understand that before the Vytal Festival is over, we will need your answer." Pyrrha hung her head and turned around she placed a hand on the glass. "The assailant that attacked the Fall maiden has made their first move, and there's no telling when their next move will be."

Summer decided Pyrrha had heard enough. It's not every day the weight of the world is dropped upon your shoulders. She pushed herself through the crowd and rested a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder. "Come on. I'll walk you out."

Pyrrha slightly turned her head and nodded. The two women left the rest of the group and walked toward the elevator. Summer stayed silent and walked a few steps to Pyrrha's right. Pyrrha stared at the floor and hugged herself. "Do Ruby and Yang know anything about this?"

"No." Summer shook her head. "The less people know about the Maidens, the better. Don't get me wrong, I don't think they'd go telling everybody about what's going on, but they'd try to do too much to keep the Maidens safe. And…" Summer hung her head, "if they know about the Maidens, or who they are, they become targets themselves."

"So, what am I? Expendable?" Pyrrha's eyes narrowed.

"Absolutely not." Summer fervently shook her head. "It's been years since any Maiden has been a Huntress on our side. The others chose you because you're the best Huntress your age, and you have the kindness and honor to back it up. In short, you're exactly who we want the Maidens to be."

Pyrrha blinked and faced the floor again, her cheeks turning slightly red. "You make it sound like you didn't help choose me."

"I didn't. I learned about what happened the day I got back. I was as shocked as you."

"Did you…know Amber before?"

"I did." Summer couldn't help but smile at the memories. "I was her 'Auntie Summer.' No blood relation, but still. Such a cute kid." Her smile disappeared. _She already lost her mom and sister. What was it like losing me too?_

Pyrrha nodded as they reached the elevator. Surprisingly it was still on the same floor. They entered and the doors closed behind them. "How did you get involved with this?"

Summer hesitated. She gave Ruby a brief and vague idea of what she could do in the future, but not everything. What could she tell Pyrrha that she couldn't say to her little girl? Well, if this worked, Ozpin would probably tell her anyway. "Because of my eyes."

"I'm sorry?"

"Have heard the legend of the Silver Eyed Warriors?"

Pyrrha's eyes narrowed as she looked into Summer's. "You're one of them?"

"Yes, but we're not just great warriors. It's true we can kill a Grimm with a single look, but there's more to it than that. Our Aura lets us see the weak spots on any Grimm and exploit them. It makes our weapons cut through them much easier. If we're strong enough, our Aura can cut through any Grimm in sight. For reasons I don't fully know, it works against the Maidens too." Summer sighed. "So when the tournament's over, I'll either go hunting whoever did this to Amber, or work on diplomatic relations for Earth."

"How many of you are there?"

"As far as I know, just me…and Ruby. She at least knows part what she is, and she'll know more when she turns eighteen. Hopefully not sooner." Summer looked at the button panel. It looked like they were almost back to the lobby. "We can continue this later." She took one look at Pyrrha and decided trying to play this off as a friendly conversation wouldn't work. She sighed as the elevator doors opened. "Good luck in the tournament. Try to stay focused." Summer left the elevator, then the CCT. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to find Ruby right away. She was too good at guessing people's real emotions. No need to worry her.

* * *

 **What? I wrote a chapter 16 with no one being severely injured? That's different.**


	17. AN: I'm Sorry

**Hi, uh…I'm pretty sure most of you saw this coming or expected it, and I've been putting it off for a while, but I'm officially calling RWBY MIA dead. The truth is, I've never really been happy with the story in the first place. I thought it was a train wreck with more plot holes than the Midwest has pot holes. But I kept it up for as long as I did because people loved this, which makes the decision to kill this that much harder.**

 **Another reason, when I started this out to now, MIA has always been a side project to A Rose's Scales, Reversal, and now Nevermore and Reconstruction. The problem is I can't focus on more than one story at a time without the quality suffering on everything I do. It got to the point where I wouldn't put out chapters because I didn't like how they went.**

 **At the same time, I loved writing Summer, Ruby, and Yang interactions. They were my favorite things in this…but that isn't what MIA is supposed to be about. Everything else proved to be a slog. The motivation dried up a while ago. Then I found out Emergence existed and how close the two stories were. The author of that may have been okay with it, but I wasn't. It felt like stealing, even though it wasn't intentional at all, and I could never shake that feeling.**

 **I know the feeling of fics I love being discontinued, and I hate to do that to people. If people want to know what I had planned, just ask, and if someone wants to take this over, again, just ask. But I will not add anything else to RWBY MIA.**


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